The Great War
by Gen.Reaper
Summary: 11 Months after the conclusion of the Archipelago Wars, the Second Gene Corp War is now in full motion as the Coalition launches it's counter-attack against Gene Corp and the Roman Empire. However unbeknownst to either side, the conflict is about to escalate even further. The sequel to the Archipelago Wars and fourth entry in the Gene Corp Wars series.
1. Introduction

**The Gene Corp Wars**

_The Great War_

The Story So Far – The Coalition at War

Almost a year has passed since the outbreak of the Second Gene Corp War as Coalition forces prepare to make their first major offensive move of the war, an invasion of the Roman-occupied British Isles codenamed Operation Just Fury, the largest joint-military operation launched by the Coalition in over a century. Although many of the Coalition's commanders are predicting a quick and easy victory, others are concerned about the lack of viable information on Gene Corp's operations in Viking-Verse Europe which have gone unchecked for a unknown period of time which has led to the formation of Task Force Therian, a multinational fighting force dedicated to putting a halt to Gene Corp's operations through covert or conventional military action, primarily targeting Project Titan, the production of post-human dragons in the conversion camps and facilities that Gene Corp has set up across the Roman Empire and at the heart of this elite fighting force is the battle-hardened 502nd Special Operations Fighter Squadron and APMSF 1st Stormtrooper Legion, who were vital assets in the Coalition's defense of the Barbaric Archipelago and played a key role in its eventual repulsion although they suffered greatly when a small number of their personnel along with the President of the United States were kidnapped in an ambush by the Roman General and post-human Night Fury, Aemilius Casca, who is currently number three on the Coalition's most wanted list behind the CEO of Gene Corp, Cameron Yates and the Roman Emperor, Marcus Salvius and the 502nd and 1st Legion have made it their own personal objectives to find their kidnapped personnel and kill Casca using any and all means necessary. However unbeknownst to the 502nd or the 1st Legion, the kidnapped personnel led by former USMC Sergeant Jayden Henderson, a post-human Stormcutter dragon is planning and preparing for their own escape from the facility that Gene Corp has imprisoned them in.

However, also unbeknownst to either side of the Gene Corp Wars, is that the conflict is about to once again escalate to a whole new scale of warfare rivaling that of the Clan Wars, the most brutal and destructive conflict fought in the history of the Coalition.

**The Major Factions **

_**The Coalition **_

** The United States of America**

**Government**: Socialist Democrat

**Head of State**: President Paxton Fettle (Acting)

**Headquarters**: Cape Girardeau, Missouri

**The European Federation**

**Government**: Federal Union

**Head of State**: Prime Minister Alberta Linto

**Headquarters**: Geneva, Switzerland

**The Russian Federation**

**Government**: Socialist Democrat

**Head of State**: President Artur Rusnak

**Headquarters**: Moscow, Moscow Oblast

**Viking Tribes of the Barbaric Archipelago **

**Task Force Therian **

**Minor Factions:**

**Canada**

**Israel**

**United Asian Federation (UAF)**

**South African Federation (SAF)**

**Central American Union (CAU)**

**South American Union (SAU)**

**Australian Union**

**Confederacy of Independent States (CIS, Russian-led Alliance) **

**_The Roman-Gene Corp Alliance _**

** Gene Corp and Blackwater PMC**

**Government**: Corporate

**Head of State**: Cameron Yates (CEO)

**Headquarters**: Gene Corp Headquarters**, **Previously located at Rome

**The Roman Empire**

**Government**: Limited Democratic Monarchy

**Head of State**: Emperor Marcus Salvius

**Headquarters**: Rome

*****Author's Notes*****

**1). **Therian is short for Therianthropy, the mythical ability of humans to turn into animals through shapeshifting, I thought it was a suiting name considering the fact that one of the major components of it are the post-human dragons, who were turned into dragons by Gene Corp's technology

**2)**.My keyboard broke while I was working on these, so I got a new one, a Logitech G710+ mechanical


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One: The Silence Before the Storm

**Somewhere over the Northern Atlantic **

**Task Force Therian **

**March 20****th****, 2246; 1955 Hours – Eleven months after the events of the Archipelago Wars **

The USAS _Patton _and her three new sister-ships, the _Eisenhower_, _Abrams_, and _Bradley_ were flying in a box formation around the larger USAS _Jefferson City _as they flew over a large multinational Coalition fleet sailing eastward over the Viking Verse Atlantic while inside the _Patton_ in one of her hangars, the post-human dragons of the 502nd Special Operations Fighter Squadron(SOFS) and APMSF 1st Stormtrooper Legion were sound asleep with the exception of one Monstrous Nightmare, a now fully grown Calvin Karlson, whose wing reconstruction surgery had been a success although he got two large scars, one on each wing, out of it along with a new translation collar that had a special device installed into it, whose function only Calvin, his parents, and the scientists at Area 51 knew. But despite his fortune, Calvin was still haunted by the memory of had happened the day that his sister, Sheva and best friend, Emily Wensky along with Sergeant Jayden Henderson and entire his squad, Reaper, Major General Aberly Dreher, and Doctor Ward had been kidnapped by General Aemilius Casca, a post-human Night Fury of the elite Roman Praetorian Guard and his men while leaving Calvin for dead in the ravine after breaking both his wings which made him require the reconstruction surgery and those memories were what was keeping him awake as he stared out of the hangar at the late evening sky

But then suddenly, Calvin's entire train of thought was interrupt by the all too familiar voice of a Adam Wensky, a post-human Deadly Nadder who was Emily's father and deputy commander of the 502nd, who had suddenly woken up and saw Calvin staring out of the hangar door and was now walking toward him

"Calvin...is that you?"

Calvin hung his head, it was really uncomfortable for him to speak to Mr. Wensky even though he held no hostile feelings against Calvin for what had happened to his daughter, but he gave Wensky a response

"Yeah it's me."

"Having trouble sleeping again?" Wensky asked him as he stopped alongside him, "And look straight at me when you're speaking to me..."

Calvin lifted his head and looked at Wensky

"Yeah..." He said to him

"Thought so." He replied as he looked at the night sky in front of them

"I just can't stop thinking about that day." Calvin said to him as his eyes started to tear up, "Every time I fall to sleep, my mind takes me back to that ravine as that fucking asshole Casca and his men flew off with the others while I was left behind unable to do anything to stop them."

"Calvin there was nothing you could have done to stop them, if you had tried, they would've you hurt you worst than they had." Wensky replied

"How do you do it?" Calvin asked him

"Do what?" Wensky replied

"Sleep, even though you don't know where Emily is?" Calvin asked him

"I sleep because I try to remember the better and happier times before the war." He replied, "For me I like to remember the day that Emily and her brothers were born.", "Just think of a good memory, like when you and Emily flew together solo for the first time."

"Oh god that and after coming back we slept together for the first t-and oh god you're not supposed to know about tha-" Calvin said

Wensky laughed quietly

"It doesn't surprise me, at that point I already knew it was inevitable you and Emily were going to have a serious relationship at one point." He said to Calvin, which reminded him of the discussion he and Emily had just an hour or so before the ambush, where they decided they wanted to move forward with their relationship

"Is something wrong?" Wensky asked him noticing the sudden change of the expression on Calvin's face

"No..." He replied as he snapped himself out of it

Wensky gave Calvin a odd look

"Well anyway, you need to get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be a big day for all of us and I don't want you of all people to be lagging behind." He said to Calvin, "Now go on and get back to your parents before they wake up and notice you're gone."

Calvin nodded and started to headed toward his parents, Charles and Tesla Karlson, who were sleeping soundly in the cargo bay

"Thanks for the advice Mr. Wensky, it was really good talking to you." He said to Wensky

"Same to, it's really good to have you back." He replied before he started to head back to where his own family was sleeping, "And Calvin, wherever they are, I'm sure Emily and Sheva are going to be okay."

"I hope you're right..." Calvin thought to himself before he laid down next to his parents, who barely even stirred as Calvin closed his eyes and tried to remember a good memory, eventually finding one and finally managing to go into a deep and restless sleep

**Location Unknown **

**Gene Corp Prison Facility **

Ex-USMC Sergeant Jayden Henderson, a post-human Stormcutter had been sleeping relatively peacefully until Sheva Karlson, another post-human Stormcutter who had previously been a Monstrous Nightmare, who had been sleeping next to him started whimpering in her sleep, waking Henderson and Kelly Ward, a post-human Skrill

"There she goes again..." Ward said as Henderson placed his right wings over Sheva and used them to pull her closer to his side so he could comfort her

"We need to get her out of here." Henderson replied as Sheva stopped whimpering and cuddled even closer to Henderson

"Don't start that talk again, you know good as well as me that there is no way in hell we're going to get out of here alive without somebody on the outside trying to rescue us." Ward said to him, "And our best hope is to wait until that happens."

Henderson sighed

"And what happens if that day never comes?" He asked Ward, "We remain prisoners until one they decide they're going to put us on mind control or kill us?

"If anything there going to keep us around to use as bargaining chips in prisoner exchanges or negotiations." She replied

"I seriously doubt that is going to happen either." Henderson said to her

"Henderson look around there is no way we're getting out of this chamber, the only way in and out of here is that blast door and it only opens from the other side!" Ward replied, "And you see those nozzles up there on the walls? Those are probably to fill this place with gas if we try anything!"

Henderson looked up at the nozzles that were mounted on the walls of the chamber before he looked down at the ground and sighed

"This place was made from the ground up to hold dragons Henderson, so there is no way we're getting out of here alive without some kind of outside help." Ward said to him, "I know you made her that promise, but...it's only a pipedream. I mean don't get me wrong I would love to get out of here too, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon."

"I know..." Henderson replied

"Hey at least there is people out there who want to rescue us." Ward said to him

"I think they're more concerned about finding Reaper than they are us." He replied, "I wonder what they did to him anyway?"

"Who knows, they probably have him somewhere worse than this place." Ward said

**Somewhere in the Alps **

**Gene Corp Facility **

Gene Corp CEO, Cameron Yates was admiring his most prized possession, a Skrill frozen solid in a block of ice that was located in a large room-sized freezer that was adjacent to his new office behind a reinforced glass wall while a Blackwater Officer stood behind him

"Mr. Yates I am telling you that it is a bad idea to keep that thing here because the Americans are going to be looking in every nook and cranny they can stick their noses in searching for him!" The Officer said to Yates, "Keeping him here puts us all at risk!"

"Aww...you worry too much General." Yates replied before he took a sip from his cup of hot tea, "There is no way the Americans will find this place!"

"Sir you are seriously underestimating the capabilities of our enemies! We're fighting not just one, but three major world powers and their allies, who have the resources of an entire world under their fingerprints!" The Officer shouted, "They will find this place eventually, even if they aren't looking for it when they do!"

"And as I said again, you worry too much and I think you're overestimating the strength of our enemies." Yates replied

"Overestimating?! We're fighting the entire god damn Coalition and our only ally is a bunch of a fucking overconfident Bronze Age idiots we gave guns and tanks too!" The Officer shouted to him, "Guns and tanks that aren't going to do jack shit against anything the Coalition has!"

Cameron rolled his eyes before taking another sip of his hot tea as he looked at the Skrill's face that was frozen in an expression of anger with its wings spread out as far they could

"Did we lose anybody while they were freezing him?" Cameron asked the General

"There were a few injuries, but we didn't lose anybody, but either way he put a good fight until the end from what I've heard." He replied

"I can see it in his face..." Cameron said to him, "Leave us please."

The Officer nodded and took one last look at the Skrill before leaving Cameron's office while Cameron continued to look at the Skrill

"Looks like your luck finally ran out Mr. President or I should I say former president?" Cameron said to the Skrill before going to his desk, "And don't worry, I'm sure your son and his family will be joining you in there soon enough!"

**Kansas City, Kansas **

**Coalition Headquarters **

**Early the next day – March 21****st****, 2246; 0356 Hours **

The commander of the Coalition forces preparing to attack Britannia, General Earl Smict, who usually commanded the 3rd Shock Army, was standing in front a large screen with a map of the Viking Verse British Isles on it showing the locations of Roman and Blackwater installations and troop concentrations on the islands along with the location of the several Coalition fleets that were positioning themselves all around the islands

"Is everything in position?" Smict asked one of his Ensigns

"Yes sir." He replied

Smict took a deep breath

"Give the order..." He said to the Ensign

"Right away sir!" The Ensign replied before going to the nearby radio operator and telling him to give the order for the invasion forces to commence Operation Just Fury


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Operation Just Fury

**USAS **_**Patton**_ –** Over the English Channel near the coastline of present day Southern England **

**Task Force Therian **

**March 21****st****, 2246; 0545 Hours – H-Hour **

The sun was only just beginning to rise over the horizon as the sudden wailing of the _Patton_'s alarms woke Calvin and his parents along with the other post-human dragons from their sleep as pilots began to rush into the hangar and climb into their aircraft while the Coalition warships on the ocean's surface below began to launch cruise missiles toward the Roman and Blackwater positions on and near the coast

"Show time people! Let's go!" Shouted Barnes, the post-human Night Fury who was the commander of the 502nd SOFS and one of the chief field commanders for Task Force Therian while Calvin and his parents got up before fully activating their powered armor

"Calvin, no matter what happens out there you stay with me and your men, if we get separated you find one of the others!" Calvin's father, Charles Karlson, the post-human Monstrous Nightmare that was the commander of the 1st Legion and another chief field commander for the Task Force

Calvin nodded

"Okay dad."

Karlson nodded and looked to Calvin's mother, Tesla

"I'm ready when you are." She said to him

"Okay then, let's go!" He replied as they ran out of the cargo bay and joined the other post-human dragons while the pilots of the 502nd and APMSF 1st Legion rushed to get inside the opened cockpits of their fighters and other aircraft as Barnes prepared to give a briefing

"Okay everybody liste-" Barnes shouted before he realized that the Viking dragon riders of Berk were not present in the hangar with them, "WHERE ARE THE DRAGON RIDERS?!"

Everybody including Calvin and his parents began to look around the hangar and saw no sign of the dragon riders or of their dragons before they finally came running in through the hangar entrance

"Where the hell were you guys?!" Barnes asked them with his translation collar

"We were sleeping in the gymnasium because there wasn't enough room in here!" Hiccup Horrendous Haddock replied as he climbed onto Toothless and placed his helmet on over his head before folding up his visor, "But we're ready to go when you guys are!"

Barnes snorted and rolled his eyes before he finally continued with the briefing

"Okay NOW EVERYBODY LISTEN UP! Our mission is to secure what is believed to be a Gene Corp Facility located several clicks inland from Camulodunum! We have no idea what we're going to find there, so stand prepared because who knows what the fuck they've been working on for all these years!", "Do I make myself clear?!

"Sir yes sir!" The Other Post-Human Dragons and Dragon Riders replied including the several freed from the Roman Praetorian Guard's dragons

"Good! Now let's go because I really doubt this campaign is going to last very long!" Barnes shouted before he looked at Samantha, his wife and the rest of his family including Anna and her husband, Preston Marlowe, who had previously been the 502nd's Chief Mechanic before being turned into Night Fury after their wedding

"Are you guys ready?" Barnes asked them and they all nodded, "Okay then...LETS GO!"

Barnes was the first to take flight followed by Samantha, Zoey, Leon, Anna, and Preston who were then followed by the other post-human dragons and the dragon riders

"Okay let's go!" Karlson shouted as he, Tesla, and Calvin ran toward the hangar before taking flight as the first of the 502nd's F-45s took off behind them. The F-45 "Ultra-Eagle" Joint Strike Fighter(JSF) was the most advanced fighter aircraft in the arsenals of the APM and APMSF that came armed with two retractable recharging pulse cannons and in addition could carry a wide variety of munitions in it's internal weapon bays located beneath the fuselage and on its sides while it's defenses included it's unrivaled speed and maneuverability, kletonium armor which made it next to invulnerable to all but the largest of anti-air weapons, an laser-based active point defense system, IR flare launchers, and an electronic counter-measure(ECM) system. However it's high-cost made it very difficult to produce, meaning its use was largely limited to the SOFS' and the air wings of the APMSF Stormtrooper Legions

"Isn't Titov and his guys supposed to be with us?" Astrid Hofferson asked over radio

"They will be, but later on!" Barnes replied as the VTOLs and attack aircraft of the APMSF 1st Stormtrooper Legion started to tail behind Calvin and his parents as the horizon ahead of them was being lit up by anti-aircraft fire and explosions

"Everybody! Get ready to go through some flak because we're about to fly over the coastal defenses!" Karlson shouted as the shoreline rapidly approached

"Flak?! I hate flak! It scares me and gives Meatlug bad gas!" Fishlegs Ingermen shouted

"Everything gives Meatlug bad gas." Karlson mumbled to himself and Calvin snickered before Roman flak shells started to explode all around them forcing everybody to do evasive maneuvers to avoid being hit by the shells that sent shrapnel flying in all directions when they exploded that harmlessly bounced off the armor being worn by the post-human dragons and the dragon riders and their mounts

"Oh shit...oh shit!" Calvin thought to himself as he heard the shrapnel bouncing off against his armor as he avoided the incoming shells as his armor wouldn't protect him from the force of the impact if one scored a direct hit

"Okay this is too much, A-15s blow these fuckers up!" Karlson shouted over the radio

"Proudly sir!" An APMSF Pilot replied as the A-15 "Havoc IIs" of the 1st Legion broke away from the formation and began to engage the Roman and Blackwater flak gun positions. The A-15 "Havoc II" was the primary CAS aircraft of the American's People Military(APM) and the spiritual successor to the famous A-10 "Warthog", which it looked very similar to, and it's primary armament was a GAU-800 heavy pulse cannon capable of tearing apart even the most heavily armored vehicles deployed by Blackwater and the Roman Military while various bombs and other weapons could be fitted on it's weapon stations, located beneath the fuselage and on the edge of the wings allowing it to perform a wide variety of missions

"Calvin are you okay?" Tesla asked Calvin, who was breathing heavily as the A-15s started strafing and destroying the Roman flak gun positions while they and the 502nd got out of range of the remaining flak guns

"Yeah I'm fine mom..." He replied as he caught his breath, "Just not used to that..."

"Everybody get ready we're only a few minutes away from the objective!" Barnes shouted over the radio

"Too late to go back now..." Calvin thought to himself as some of the A-15s returned to the formation

"There's Titov and his men!" Shouted Vasili, a Russian Gronckle as he motioned toward the Russian air transports and attack aircraft flying in the same direction as they were

"Hey Titov is that you and your guys flying over there?!" Barnes shouted over the radio to Russian Colonel, Gosha Titov, who commanded the Russian contingent of Task Force Therian

"Affirmative, where are you guys?!" Titov replied

"To your right, we're at three clicks apart!" Barnes shouted

"Okay we see you now!" Titov replied, "Should we converge our forces or keep it like this?"

"Let's keep it like this so we're not all bunched together, plus it'll be a good idea for our forces to land at separate LZs so we can attack the facility from different directions!" Barnes said to him

"Affirmative!" Titov replied, "So where is this place anyway?"

"It should be over those hills directly ahead of us!" Barnes shouted

"Do we even know what's there?" Titov asked him

"I'm afraid not, so we're going to have to be ones to find out." He replied

Titov sighed over the radio

"Let's just do this and get it over with." Titov said to Barnes

"Agreed!" He replied when they started to pass over the hills and the facility came into sight

"Is that it?!" Calvin asked his father

"I guess so, you were expecting more?" He replied

"Kind of..." Calvin said to him

"Incoming SAMs!" Shouted Captain Jack Franz Ramirez, one of the pilots of the 502nd's F-45s as a barrage of surface-to-air missiles flew towards the 502nd and 1st Legion

"Perform evasive maneuvers and deploy counter-measures!" Barnes shouted

"Not again!" Calvin thought to himself as he started to perform evasive maneuvers and deploying his armor's IR flares to break any lock-ons

"You're doing good Calvin! Just keep at it!" Karlson shouted as some of the 1st Legion's F-45s started to launch HARMs (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles aka anti-radar missiles) at the installation, which locked onto its radar station which was guiding the SAM launchers to their targets and destroyed it, disabling the SAM launchers for the time being allowing the 502nd and 1st Legion to regroup before continuing on toward the facility

"Okay this is close enough! 1st Legion, it's time to get this party started!" He shouted to the VTOLs carrying the 1st Legion's ground forces, which immediately begin to descend as the anti-air positions around the facility began to fire at them, but were quickly engaged by the 1st Legion's AH-57 "Crow" gunships. The AH-57 "Crow" was a tiltjet multi-role gunship used by the APM and APMSF that was armed with a 30mm minigun located beneath its gunner seat and could mount missile launchers, rocket pods, and gun pods on the two weapon stations located beneath each of its wings and could carry two additional missiles on the wing-tip weapon stations and was capable of traveling at super-sonic speeds for short periods of time.

"Okay Calvin let's see how much of me you got in you!" Karlson shouted to Calvin as they and Tesla landed with the 1st Legion's UH-55 "Mallard" tiltjet VTOLs who began to deploy stormtroopers of the 1st Legion onto the battlefield while the larger MV-67 "Osprey II" tiltjet deployed the ground vehicles including one of the main workhorses of the 1st Legion's armored corps, the M25A1 "Pershing II" MBT. The Pershing II has been the primary battle tank for the APMSF Stormtrooper Legions since its introduction in 2241 during the final days of the First Gene Corp War, it could be equipped with a variety of main guns including a railgun and 140mm smoothbore tank gun, a coaxial pulse machine and a minigun mounted on the commander's cupola, and was equipped by default with a shield generator and active point defense system for protection although it's electrified kletonium armor was almost completely immune to most of the known anti-tank weapons and munitions used by Blackwater and Rome as long as it wasn't aimed at the thinly armored rear if the shields were down

Calvin landed next to his father

"Is it time?" Calvin asked he motioned to the device on his translation collar

"No not yet." Karlson replied, "But you'll know when it is."

Calvin nodded as stormtrooper mortar teams started to deploy and fire bombs over the walls that surrounded the facility while the guard towers were taken down by the Pershing IIs and a Megathon Mark II. The largest vehicle on the modern battlefield, the M-100 "Megathon" Mark II heavy tank was one of the most iconic, respected, and feared vehicles in the arsenal of the APM and APMSF, the Megathon Mark II usually came armed with two twin heavy railguns capable of flattening most opposition, a cupola-mounted minigun that the commander operated from a control console inside the tank, two SSM/SAM launcher pods mounted on the sides of the turret, and a small 120mm internal mortar located on top of the turret and for protection, it had an extremely powerful shield generator, active point defense system, and electrified kletonium armor which made it completely immune to any attacks from the front or sides even with modern munitions at long to medium ranges with its only weak spot being the exhaust ports for its power plant, a small fusion reactor when the shields were down. There was also a Megathon Mark III, but they were only available in limited numbers and looked very similar to the Mark II, but usually came armed with a single anti-matter cannon

"RPG!" An APMSF Stormtrooper shouted as a Blackwater trooper with an RPG-70 popped out of an entrenchment and aimed for Calvin before firing a tandem-charge tipped projectile

"CALVIN!" Tesla screamed before she knocked her son down so the projectile flew over him and struck the force-field of a Pershing II behind him, exploding harmlessly

"Thanks mom..." Calvin said to her telepathically as he got up while Karlson tore into the entrenchment after igniting his fire-jacket

"Think you can fire a rocket at my son and get away with it?! I don't think so asshole!" Karlson shouted as he attacked the Blackwater RPG Trooper

"Is he going to be okay?" Calvin asked Tesla

"Yeah..." She replied while the other post-human dragons and dragon riders began to attack the compound

"For such a small facility, it has a lot of guys defending it!" Shouted Preston as Barnes dive bombed a anti-air gun on the roof of the main building

"There might be more to this place than we're seeing!" Barnes shouted when the blast doors of the main facility began to open

"The doors on the main building are starting to open!" Astrid shouted

"I can see that!" Barnes replied as a large tank rolled out of the facility

"Uhhh...what is that?!" Hiccup asked

"I have no idea!" Samantha shouted as the tank stopped as a Pershing II smashed its way through the concrete wall onto the grounds before it and began to charge up its main weapon, a laser cannon

"That thing has a laser gun!" Shouted Versky, a Russian Deadly Nadder before the prototype laser tank began to fire an intensely bright blue laser beam that struck the Pershing II's shields and quickly knocking them out before reaching the Pershing itself and started to burn a hole through its frontal upper armor plate while its crew screwed over the radio

"What are we waiting for?! Take that thing out!" Barnes shouted as she charged up a plasma blast before diving down at the tank and releasing the shot, striking the vehicle's turret just above its gun, disabling it and saving the now heavily damaged Pershing II, which withdrew back through the wall as Megathon smashed its way through the wall to the right of the laser tank with both of its railguns already full charged and fired them both into the prototype, completely destroying it as Karlson, Calvin, and Tesla went to check on the crew of the damaged Pershing II as they quickly climbed out of their tank

"What the hell?! Dad I thought you said nothing could penetrate the armor of our tanks?!" Calvin asked his dad, who was dumbfounded at the large hole that the laser tank had bored into the front of the Pershing II and had been only inches away from boring right into the driver's compartment

"Dad?" Calvin asked him before nudged his father with his snout

"That's what I thought too..." He replied after snapping out of it

Barnes, Wensky, and the dragon riders landed nearby and approached them

"How bad is it?" Barnes asked Karlson

"It almost bored all the through the frontal armor into the driver's compartment." He replied

"Damn..." Wensky said to him

"How much of the tank is left?" Karlson asked Barnes

"Not much, one of your Megathons blasted it to pieces shortly after I disabled its gun." He replied as stormtroopers started to pour into the compound through the holes in the wall and attacking the remaining defenders inside

"In all my years of service, I have never seen anything like this before..." Karlson said to them

"Really?" Calvin asked him

"Really." He replied, "The crew was lucky that the laser was slowed down by their tank's shields, even if just by a few seconds otherwise they would've been fried alive."

"Dad if one those things did this to this tank, does that mean it could do the same to...us?" Calvin asked Karlson

"He's right..." Barnes replied, "This is defiantly a game changer."

Titov came around the compound with some of his men

"We heard what happened!" Titov shouted, "Was anybody hurt?"

"No, all thanks to Barnes." Karlson replied

"We're lucky it was only just one this time." Barnes said to him as Calvin stuck part of his snout into the borehole

"Calvin don't do that! We don't know what kind of chemicals that thing could have left behind when it fired!" Tesla shouted to him making him withdraw his snout from the hole and backing away from the tank as an APMSF Officer approached his father

"General Karlson, we have secured the facility and its staff along with a second incomplete prototype laser tank." The Officer said to him

A second prototype? How incomplete is it?" Karlson asked him

"It's a hull without a turret, which is still the workshop, but over wise completed along with several parts of what we guess is the gun." He replied

"Move them out of the facility and prepare them for extraction along with any technical data you can find on its computers!" Karlson shouted to him

"Yes sir!" The APMSF Officer replied, "Should we send a report about this to Kansas City?"

"Of course!" Karlson shouted, "NOW GO!"

The Officer nodded and left as Karlson looked at Calvin

"Are you okay?" He asked him

Calvin nodded

"Yeah I'm fine, didn't get to do much of anything, but I'm fine." He said

"Well don't worry about that, because we still have a long day ahead of us." Karlson replied

**Somewhere in the Alps **

**Gene Corp Facility **

**An Hour Later **

Cameron was still in his office doing paperwork when a Blackwater Officer barged in through the front door

"Mr. Yates! Mr. Yates! We've just received confirmation that Coalition forces are attacking the British Isles!" He shouted to Cameron

"What?! How bad is it?!" He asked him in both shock and surprise

"The Coalition has gained total air dominance over the islands and have captured one of our research facilities where we were building and testing the prototypes for the Ares laser tank, destroying one of them in the battle." The Officer replied

"What?! The Ares' are our only chance against the Coalition's tanks, what about the other facilities we have on the islands?" Cameron asked him

"We're evacuating them as fast as we can, but the Coalition's forces are moving too quick for us and the Romans to prepare a defensive strategy!" He replied

"So we just basically lost Britain and Ireland in one night?" Cameron asked him

"It seems that way Mr. Yates, we weren't prepared for an attack this big." He replied

"Maybe I did underestimate them..." Cameron thought to himself as he remembered his earlier discussion with the General

"Can't we do anything to salvage the situation?" He asked the Officer

"Not at this point, sending any forces to reinforce the islands will be a waste of time and manpower." He replied

"Damn..." Cameron said as he slouched back in his chair

"But I do suggest that we reinforce our positions in Gaul in case the Coalition tries to cross the Channel." The Officer said to him

Cameron nodded

"Do it." He said as he looked over at the frozen Skrill

"Is there wrong sir?" The Officer asked him

"No.." Cameron replied as he looked back at the Officer, "What is the status of our dark energy reactor in Rome?"

"Not good, Doctor Hatfield has informed us that the reactor's containment fields are beginning to fail as a result of the heavy damage dealt to the facility by the Coalition's bombing raids and is strongly suggesting that we begin evacuating Rome before it reaches critical levels." The Officer said to him

Cameron sighed

"How long will it take to evacuate the city?" He asked him

"Considering the current state of the city's infrastructure and how many people are living there, three to four days." The Officer replied, "But if we do evacuate the city, the Coalition will defiantly know something is going on and will probably respond.", "But if we don't and the reactor explodes our relations with the Romans will take a big hit, much worse than the one it took when the Coalition defeated us in the Barbaric Archipelago."

"I guess we don't have much of a choice then, order the forces we currently have stationed in Rome to begin evacuating the city and anything within a 100,000 mile radius of the reactor." Cameron said


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Airfield Assault

**Captured Gene Corp Research Facility – Northeast of Camulodunum **

**Task Force Therian **

**March 21****st****, 2246 – 0932 Hours **

Calvin was taking advantage of the relative quiet to get some rest inside the main building of the captured Gene Corp Facility as the dragon riders and their mounts watched him from the nearby concrete platform

"He seems to be taking this very well so far." Astrid said to Hiccup

"Yeah, but I can't stop thinking about that device on his collar, I just have to know what it does!" He replied as he jumped down from the platform

"Uhhh...what do you think you're doing Hiccup?" Astrid asked Hiccup as the other dragon riders followed while he started to carefully climb unto, who barely even stirred

"I'm going to find out what this thing does!" He replied as he began to tool around with the device on Calvin's translation collar

"He might not appreciate that!" Fishlegs shouted

Calvin cracked his eyes open and slightly lifted up his head

"What's going on...?" He asked tiredly when Hiccup finally got the device to do something

"Initiating transformation process in 5...4...3-" The Device said with an electronic voice which made Calvin realize what had happened

"What the hell did you guys do?!" Calvin shouted as the device continued to count down

"2...1...initiating transformation."

Seconds later, outside the building, Calvin's parents were with Barnes and Titov discuss the Task Force's next move

"We've been here for over four hours now and nobody has come to try to retake the facility." Titov said to Karlson and Barnes, "I think it's time we move south and help the invasion force take Camulod-"

"MOM! DAD!" Calvin screamed from the main building

"That can't be good..." Karlson said to himself as he and Tesla ran into the main building and saw Calvin, who was now in a human form and completely naked hiding behind some oil-drums while Hiccup, Astrid, and the other dragon riders and their mounts stared on in shock

"CALVIN WE TOLD YOU NOT TO-" Tesla shouted at him with her translation collar

"IT WASNT ME! IT WAS THEM!" He replied as pointed to the riders, "CAN SOMEBODY GET ME SOME DAMN CLOTHES PLEASE!"

"I just wanted to see what it did! I swear!" Hiccup shouted

"We should've saw this coming..." Karlson said to Tesla telepathically as Barnes came into the building

"What the hell is going on- and oh god why is he naked?!" He shouted

"You're not making it any better!" Calvin replied

"Calvin?!" Barnes shouted as he looked at Calvin's parents and Karlson sighed

"Long story short, our son can turn between human and dragon forms every 24 hours thanks to a new type of nanite that the doctors at Area 51 developed and injected into his blood stream which are controlled using the device that was mounted on his translation collar." He said to Barnes

"When were you planning on telling us this?!" Barnes asked him

"When the time was right..." He replied

"Hello?! I need some clothes!" Calvin shouted

"Can somebody please get him some clothes?!" Barnes shouted with his translation collar, "And some weapons!"

"Thank you..." Calvin said as he gave an angry glare at the dragon riders, "I swear if I could I would shove my foot so far up your fucking asses right now you would be able to chew on it!"

"Calvin we had no idea that was going to happen, we didn't-" Hiccup stammered

"Calvin it's not their fault, it's ours' we should've told what the device did earlier." Karlson said to Calvin

Calvin sighed angrily and slouched down

"Now I'm a freak..." Calvin thought to himself as an APMSF Officer came in carrying a duffle bag

"This is all we could find." The Officer said to Barnes who took the bag, grabbing it with his mouth and throwing it over the oil drums

"We're really sorry Calvin, I mean it!" Astrid shouted to him as Calvin rolled his eyes as he opened the duffle bag and started getting dressed into the APMSF Combat Utility Uniform, the pieces for a A-4 Powered Combat Armor (PCA), and a GK-47 Pulse Assault Rifle, the standard infantry weapon for APMSF Stormtroopers along with a APMSF kletonium combat knife with a metal sheath that was worn on the wearer's chest

"Just don't mess with my shit!" Calvin shouted to them

"Are you going to be okay Calvin?" Tesla asked him

"Yeah I'm going to be fine mom." He replied

"Stay with him to make sure nobody else decides to mess with him..." Karlson said to Tesla telepathically before going back with Barnes and Titov

"So can you still understand dragonese or something?" Fishlegs asked Calvin as he started to put on the armor onto his body

"Of course I do, it's still my native language although I can't speak it very well while I'm like this." He replied, "But luckily most of the dragons I'm working with understand English."

Calvin stood up after he finished putting his powered armor on while keeping the helmet tucked under his arm, the GK-47 slung around his other arm, and the combat knife in the sheath on the right side of his chest plate

"Wow you look a lot like your dad when he was human...just younger." Astrid said to him

"That's what I said too when they first tested it in Area 51." Tesla replied

"So how old is he human wise?" Hiccup asked her

"The scientists said he's probably about 21 or 22, only a few years older than you guys." She replied as Calvin removed the transformation device from his translation collar and placed it around his right arm

"So what am I going to do now?" Calvin asked his mother

"I guess you'll ride either me or your father until you can change back." Tesla replied

Calvin sighed as Tesla came over and nuzzled him in the wide and Calvin laughed

"Well I guess it isn't that bad." Calvin thought to himself as he gently scratched the side of his mother's neck as she purred

**Coalition Beachhead – Present Day Clacton-on-Sea **

**Hairy Hooligan Expeditionary Forces (HHEF) **

**0948 Hours **

The first of the HHEF's new lend-leased M98A3 "Powell" MBTs rolled off the lowered ramp of an American LCAC onto the beachhead as the chieftain of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe, Stoick the Vast and blacksmith, Gobber the Belch watched them with pride. The M98 "Powell" was the MBT of choice for the U.S Armed Forces and came armed with a 130mm smoothbore gun capable of firing ATGMs, a coaxial machine gun, a cupola-mounted minigun and was protected by several inches of electrified composite armor and an active point defense system

"With tanks like these we can keep up with the Coalition advance and still be able to slug it out on better than equal terms with Blackwater's tanks!" Stoick shouted

"But we don't have very many of them Stoick and their crews aren't as top notch as the Coalition's." Gobber replied

"Still better than having no tanks at all!" Stoick said as two APM M334A4 "Paladin III" Self-Propelled Howitzers (SPHs) rolled off another LCAC behind them, kicking up sand and seashells. The M334A4 "Paladin III" SPH was a turreted self-propelled 155mm howitzer that served as the APM's and APMSF's primary mechanized artillery support unit capable of delivering both guided and unguided munitions over long distances with extreme accuracy, earning it the nickname "Death's Finger" from Roman soldiers and Blackwater troopers during the Barbaric Archipelago Campaign

"Well if we don't start moving any quicker, we're going to miss the battle because everybody I've heard talking is saying that this campaign is going quicker than anybody expected it was." Gobber said to Stoick

"That's what I've been hearing too." He replied as four Russian fighter jets flew overhead as Stoick waved to one of the Powells to stop as he and Gobber started to walk toward it, "Which is why we better get moving."

Stoick climbed onto the Powell before turning around to help Gobber get on before Stoick told the commander of the tank to continue moving forward

"So where are we heading anyway?" Gobber asked Stoick

"Camulodunum, the Romans have an air base here that the Coalition wants to take control of and use for their own purposes." He replied

"What?! Aren't all those air bases they built in Iceland good enough?" Gobber asked him

"The distance is shorter meaning the Romans and Blackwater will have less time to detect and intercept anything the Coalition launches from it, which is also why they're going to fight us tooth and nail for it." He replied, "Plus it'll also cut off their only chance to evacuate."

"If you say so Stoick..." Gobber said as the tank they were riding moved off the beach and onto a road which it followed east

**In Route to Camulodunum**

**Task Force Therian **

**1120 Hours **

Calvin was riding on his mother while the post-human dragons in both the 502nd and 1st Stormtrooper Legion occasionally stared at him while the VTOLs and attack aircraft of the 1st Legion followed behind them

"Mom they all keep staring at me..." Calvin said to Tesla quietly and nervously as he ducked behind her horns in an attempt to remain out of sight

"Just ignore them Calvin." She replied telepathically

"Hey stop staring at my son as if he's some kind of freak assholes!" Karlson shouted angrily to the others

"Maybe I should just go back to the Patton so I'm not a distraction?" Calvin said to his mom

"I'm afraid it's too late to do that Calvin." She replied as Karlson started to fly closer to them

"Calvin I think it's time you join the ground forces, because it's obvious to me that they're going to let you distract them." He said to Calvin

"Uhhh dad...you're radio is still recording and everybody just heard what you said." He replied

"Aww...shit." Karlson said as Barnes came back to join them

"Is there a problem back here?" He asked them

"Yeah everybody keeps staring at my son rather than doing their job." Karlson replied

Barnes looked at the post-human dragons that were around the Karlsons who were no longer staring at Calvin and minding their own business, but Barnes sighed

"I can't afford to have everybody distracted, even considering what happened back at the facility, so I suggest that you both take him back to the Patton and leave him there until he can change back or leave him with a stormtrooper squad when we land." He said to them

"I think we'll go with the latter, I want him to get a feel for battle." Karlson replied

"Sure..." Calvin said

"Okay then..." Barnes replied, "And if I catch or hear about any of you staring at Calvin, I will gouge out your eyes myself, got that?!"

Barnes returned to the front of the formation

"Well that was...interesting." Calvin thought to himself before he unslung his GK-47 and did a quick check on it to make sure everything on it was functioning properly, "Everything looks good here."

"Do you even know how to fire that thing?" Asked Robin, a post-human Deadly Nadder who had been his mother's tank gunner during the First Gene Corp War while Calvin slung the GK back around his shoulder

"Of course he does! I taught him almost everything he knows!" Karlson replied

"I hope so because I wouldn't want him to go out and disgrace you guys." She said to Karlson and Tesla

"You do know he can understand what you're saying right?" Tesla asked her

"He can?!" She replied

"Yeah...dragonese is still my native language." Calvin said to her, "I can't just do the telepathy and speaking it part while I'm in this form."

"Oh..." Robin replied

"There's the airfield! Get ready guys!" Barnes shouted over the radio

"I can do this...I can do this..." Calvin said to himself

"INCOMING!" Preston shouted as the AA guns around the airfield began to open fire upon them

"Keep your head down Calvin!" Tesla shouted to Calvin telepathically as he kept his head low

"Okay we're landing here!" Karlson shouted to the pilots of the APMSF VTOLs which immediately began to descend, "Calvin, when you and your mother land there is going to be a squad waiting for you, stay with them and they'll keep you safe!"

"Roger that!" Calvin shouted as his mother began to descend down to the open fields located to the south of the airfield where the APMSF VTOLs were landing as the AA guns focused their fire on them while the rest of the 502nd and 1st Legion post-human dragons kept flying toward the airfield

"Calvin, take care of yourself down there!" Robin shouted over the radio to him with her translation collar

"Thanks!" He replied as his mother landed behind an Osprey II as it deployed a company of Stormtroopers, while a single squad approached them

"Are you the General's kid?!" The Leader of the Stormtrooper Squad asked Calvin, shouting at him so he could hear him over the sounds of the nearby VTOLs' roaring engines and the sounds of the battle

"Yes sir! I'm guessing you're the squad my father told me about?!" He replied

The Stormtrooper nodded

"I'm afraid we've got no time for formal introductions! But I'm Eddie and this is Echo Squad!" He shouted to Calvin, "Now let's go finish up this battle so we can get to know each other better!"

"Agreed!" He replied as Tesla took off and ignited her fire-jacket before flying toward the airfield where Calvin's father had already cleared a way through the chain-link perimeter fence and was attacking the crews of the Roman anti-air guns as Calvin, Eddie, and the rest of Echo Squad took cover in a bomb crater just before the fence

"We're going to let the tanks go in first!" Eddie shouted

Calvin nodded and looked at the stormtrooper wearing the A-5 heavy powered combat armor and carrying a M134 light minigun sitting next to him and was looking back at him

"You look just like your dad when he was human...just younger." She said to him

"And you are?" Calvin asked

"Katrina." The Stormtrooper replied, "Nice to make your acquaintance Mr. Karlson."

"Same here." Calvin said to Katrina as they shook hands, "And please just call me Calvin, Mr. Karlson is my dad."

"Okay Calvin." She replied as another stormtrooper squad joined Calvin and Echo Squad in the crater as several Pershing IIs started to roll forward followed by two Megathons and several M876 "Conrad" Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs). The Conrad was the APM's primary fully amphibious IFV and armored reconnaissance vehicle that was came armed with a 90mm smoothbore gun capable of firing ATGM, 25mm chain gun, and a coaxial heavy pulse machine gun and was equipped with electrified kletonium armor and an active point defense system for defense. It could also carry up to six soldiers in its rear passenger compartment, but it could carry more on its roof if needed.

"Get ready!" Eddie shouted as the Pershing IIs passed by and crushed the fences beneath their tracks as they continued moving forward onto the airstrip, "GO! GO! GO!"

Calvin, Eddie, and Katrina got up out of the crater with the rest of Echo Squad and started running after the Pershing IIs with the other stormtrooper squad following suit as the Pershing IIs knocked out any machine gun nests that began firing at them

"Clear out the rest of these anti-air positions!" Karlson shouted to them over his translation collar's radio as he and Tesla continued their rampage through a Roman defensive position

"I have so many questions I want to ask you!" Said one of the other Echo Squad Stormtroopers to Calvin

"Can they wait later?" He replied

"Of course, name's Jordan." The Stormtrooper said to him

"Okay..." Calvin replied

"Where the hell is Blackwater? I'm seeing nothing but Romies here!" Katrina shouted

"I'm wondering that too!" Eddie replied as they and several other stormtrooper squads began to attack a Roman fortified position containing three active anti-aircraft guns which were firing at the dragon riders who were flying overhead with the 502nd as they fought with a couple of Roman fighters as APMSF mortars pounded the position with bombs

"Can somebody down there please knockout out those anti-air guns?!" Astrid shouted over Calvin's radio

"We're working on it kid!" An APMSF Officer replied as Calvin and Echo Squad reached the outer sandbag barrier surround the Roman position

"Calvin you have any grenades?!" Eddie asked Calvin

"I'm afraid not sir!" He replied

"That's okay! We've got plenty!" Eddie said as he took two of his grenades and handed them to Calvin

"Thank you!" He replied

"Wait for my mark!" Eddie shouted as he, Katrina, Jordan, Calvin, and the rest of echo squad prepared their grenades, "NOW!"

Calvin and the rest of Echo Squad pulled the pins out of their frag grenades and threw over the barrier and several Roman soldiers screamed in terror when they saw the grenades before they exploded

"Let's go!" Eddie shouted as he led and Calvin and the rest of Echo Squad over the barrier with Katrina providing suppressive fire with her minigun before she too climbed over the barrier as Roman soldier charged at Calvin with a bayonet mounted on his AK-47, but Calvin placed two pulse rounds into him, one in the chest and another in the forehead through his helmet, killing him

"Tango down!" Calvin shouted as four more Roman Soldiers appeared, but Katrina gunned them down with her minigun

"Let's move!" Eddie shouted as he led Echo Squad and Calvin through the fortified position, dispatching any Roman soldiers they encountered as they headed to the nearest anti-air gun when a Roman Soldier tried to ambush Katrina and stabbed at her with his bayonet, but the blade broke when it hit her armor

"Do you Romies ever learn?!" Katrina shouted before she dispatched the Roman soldier by punching in the right side of his face, dislocating his lower jaw and sending several broken teeth flying out of his mouth while also knocking him unconscious

"Damn Katrina could you have punched him any harder?!" Asked another member of Echo Squad

"If I punched him any harder it would've broken his neck." She replied as she shook her hand

"That's enough! We need to clear out that AA gun nest!" Eddie shouted, "Ronnie you're on point!"

"Yes sir!" Shouted Ronnie as he went to the front of the squad as they prepared to storm the first anti-air gun nest while another squad of stormtroopers cleared out another one

"Move in! Go!" Eddie shouted as Ronnie entered the nest and fired his shotgun, killing one of the gun's crewmen as the other crewman jumped out his seat and tried to flee, but was taken out by Calvin with a shot to his back

"Nest cleared!" Jordan shouted

"Okay I'm sure the other squads have the remaining nests covered, so let's move to the next objective!" Eddie shouted

"And what's that?!" Calvin asked him

"The air control tower!" He replied

"Attention all units! We've just received confirmation that friendly forces are entering our AO from the south, so watch your fire!" An APMSF Officer shouted over the radio

"Roger that!" Eddie replied, "You heard the man, we've got friendlies running around now, so watch your fire!"

"Yes sir!" Calvin said as explosions and gunfire erupted on the opposite side of the airfield where the HHEF was leading the Coalition attack on the airfield

"FORWARD!" Stoick shouted as he led the HHEF from on top of the Powells as it smashed through the front gate slowing down long enough to allow Stoick and Gobber to jump off as Snotlout's father, Spitelout Jorgenson the Brave and a group of Viking Warriors joined them as an entrenched Roman T-34 was annihilated by a HEAT round from one of the HHEF Powells

"Stoick! Task Force Therian is attacking the airfield from the other direction!" Spitelout shouted to Stoick

"I can see that Spitelout!" He replied

"I thought they were supposed to be securing some of Gene Corp facility?!" Spitelout asked him

"They must have already secured it by the looks of it!" Gobber replied

"It doesn't matter! We need to continue with the attack!" Stoick shouted as Barnes, Toothless, and Hiccup landed behind them

"Dad!" Hiccup shouted

"Hiccup! How goes your day?" Stoick asked him

"Attacked a Gene Corp Facility, saw an APMSF tank nearly get gutted by a laser tank, saw said laser tank getting blown up by a Megathon, and then found out Karlson's son can change between human and dragon forms, so yeah I've had an interesting day." He replied

"Karlson's son can do what?" Stoick asked him

"It's a long story." Barnes replied with his translation collar as a few rounds fired from the Roman soldiers in the air control tower ricocheted off his and Toothless' armor, "But for now let's take this damn airfield!"

"Agreed! Charge!" Stoick shouted as Barnes, Toothless, and Hiccup took off back into the air while Calvin and Echo Squad were preparing to breach one of the doors of the Air Control Tower

"Breaching charge set!" Jordan shouted as he rejoined Echo Squad who were stacked up on Katrina while Eddie held the remote detonator for the charge

"You ready Calvin?" He asked Calvin, who was behind him

"Ready as I ever will be." He replied as he tightly held onto his GK

"Okay! Breaching in 3...2...1!" Eddie shouted before he triggered the breaching charge and detonated it, blasting out the door

"Frag out!" Katrina shouted as she threw a grenade in through the doorway before spinning up her minigun as the grenade exploded and sent screams of terror and agony out of the Roman soldiers inside before she came into the smoke filled staircase and started firing the minigun as the rest of Echo Squad followed her

"Calvin! Don! You move up the stairs and clear out the control room! We'll clear the offices!" Eddie shouted as Katrina kicked in the door leading to the offices as another squad of stormtroopers breached another door

"Okay kid, you're with me then!" Said Don as he and Calvin started to move up the stairs when a single Roman soldier appeared on top of the flight, but was taken out by Don with a single shot to the head sending him tumbling down the stairs as Calvin and Don moved out of the way before continuing up the stairs

"So kid what is it like being a dragon?" Don asked Calvin quietly as they quickly moved up the stairs

"Not really the place to discuss Don." He replied

"I know, just wondering." Don said

"Well it's certainly a much different experience from this, I'll tell you that." Calvin replied as they reached the ladder leading up to the control room where they heard Roman soldiers shouting and firing their weapons while an officer shouted over a radio at another Roman Officer through the trapdoor

"Okay Calvin you go first!" Don said to him, "Don't worry I got your back!"

Calvin nodded and slung his rifle around his shoulder before he grabbed a hold of the ladder and quietly started to climb up it until he reached the trap door and quietly cracked it open with his head before it suddenly came up as a Roman Praetorian Guards Officer grabbed Calvin and threw him across the control room while losing his rifle and through the glass onto the catwalk where had almost fell over before he grabbed a hold of the edge

"SON OF A BITCH!" Calvin shouted as he climbed up and before he could unslung his rifle, the Praetorian Guard Officer came onto the catwalk and started to attack him as Don threw a grenade up into the control room that killed the other Roman Praetorian Guardsmen inside

"You Americans are like cockroaches! You never just die!" The Praetorian Officer shouted at Calvin as he recognized the Officer as one of the Praetorian Guardsmen who had been at the ambush with Casca and his Praetorian dragons before he kicked his leg and cause him to fell down as Don quickly climbed up the ladder

"Calvin hold on!" Don shouted as Calvin lunged at the Praetorian Officer and wrapped both his hands around the man's neck

"You! You were there with Casca and his dragons!" Calvin shouted as he stared into the Officer's eyes before he managed to get Calvin off him

"How did you know that?!" The Officer shouted

"Because I was there!" Calvin replied

"No you weren't...unless." The Officer said before Calvin drew out his combat knife and stabbed him in the abdomen

"Now I have one question for you before you die! Where did you take them?!" Calvin shouted as he shoved his knife deeper into the officer's body

"We...handed...them...to Gene Corp." He replied, "How...is this possible?"

Realizing that he wasn't going to get any useful information from the Officer, Calvin pulled his knife out of his abdomen before pushing him over the safety railing of the catwalk to his death

"What was all that about?!" Don asked Calvin

"An old score..." He replied

"He was there wasn't he?" Don asked him, "In the ravine where-"

Calvin pulled up his visor and wiped away some blood from the corner of his mouth and nodded as Eddie climbed up the ladder

"Is everything alright up here?" He asked Don and Calvin as he came onto the catwalk

"It is now sir." Calvin replied as the battle finally ended when the last of the surviving Roman soldiers surrendered


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Early Warnings

**Camulodunum Airfield **

**Task Force Therian **

**March 21st****, 2246 – 1434 Hours **

Coalition Engineers were hard at work repairing the damage to the airfield to allow for its use by Coalition aircraft while Calvin and Echo Squad relaxed in one of the hangars with two other stormtrooper squads

"So when we are going to get new orders?" Calvin asked Eddie after he got off the radio with another APMSF Officer

"They don't know, but apparently Gene Corp has ordered an evacuation of Rome for some reason." He replied

"They're evacuating Rome?" Katrina asked

"Yeah and everything within a 100,000 mile radius of it as well, which is why command thinks something is up." Eddie replied

"So we're going to attack Rome now?" Calvin asked him

Eddie shrugged

"We might and we might not." He said, "Think your sister and girlfriend are there?"

"It's possible, but I'm not going to get my hopes up." Calvin replied, "We haven't heard anything about them in months and all we know is that they're still alive...for now."

"It must suck not knowing where they are." Jordan said to him

"Suck is an underestimate." He replied to himself as he laid his down on the crate he was laying down and stared at the roof the hangar

"So Calvin, you can change between dragon and human forms right?" Don asked him

"Yep, every twenty-four hours." He replied, "Which reminds me."

Calvin looked at the timer on his transformation device which still showed he had nineteen hours left before he could turn back into a dragon

"So how long do you have left?" Eddie asked him

"Nineteen hours." He replied

"So do you like being a dragon?" Katrina asked him

"It has its perks and its downsides, but I was born a dragon and spent most of my life as one, so yeah." He replied

"But do you like being human?" Eddie asked him

"I don't know, I haven't been in this form long enough to really decide if I like it or not." He replied, "This is only the second time I've done this."

"So did they have to teach you how to use silverware and all that at Area 51?" Eddie asked him

"Not really, it all came naturally to me, which surprised the crap out of the scientists." He replied, "The only hard part was getting used to not being able to breathe fire, fly and all that."

"So why aren't with your parents?" Eddie asked him

"Don't want to bother them right now because they're probably busy with important stuff, plus I don't like being stared at by everybody I know like I'm some kind of freak." He replied

"Well Calvin, you need to think, you are the only one of the entire bunch to have the ability to switch between human and dragon forms, so of course some people are going to give you stares and stuff like that, hell they might even be jealous." Katrina said to him

"Really...never really thought about them. Should I be careful?" He replied

Katrina shrugged

"I don't know, I haven't been turned into a dragon nor do I ever intend to be turned into one." She said

Calvin sighed as Robin came into the hangar

"Is Calvin in here?" She asked with her translation collar

"I'm right here Robin, what do you want?" Calvin asked her

"Just wanted to know where you were." She replied, "Are you hiding from us?"

"No." Calvin said to her

"Liar." She replied telepathically, "It is about the whole staring thing?"

Calvin sighed

"I'll take that as a yes." She said telepathically, "At least go see your parents, they've been worried sick about you since you threw that Praetorian Guard off the tower."

Calvin sighed

"Where are they?" He asked her

"Over by the CP." She replied

Calvin got up and jumped down from the crate

"See you later Calv!" Eddie shouted to him

"I hope so too!" He replied as he went with Robin to the command post where his parents were sitting

"There you are! Where have you been?!" Tesla shouted to Calvin as she and Karlson ran toward him and Robin

"He was still with that squad you guys put him with, I think he's made some new friends." Robin said to her telepathically before doing the same to his father

"Thank you Robin." Karlson said to her

Robin nodded and took off while Calvin was knocked down by his mother as she nuzzled him

"I love you too mom." He said to her, "So I heard about Gene Corp suddenly starting to evacuate Rome, any idea why they're doing it?"

Tesla stopped nuzzling Calvin and helped back onto his feet as Karlson replied

"We don't know."

"So they're evacuating over a million something people from their capital and we don't know why?!" Calvin asked him

"You can't know everything." He replied, "But Barnes and a few others from the 502nd are going in with an Alfa Squad tonight to get a closer look while we stay here and I guess do whatever."

"Am I the only one who thinks that sounds like a one way trip?" Calvin asked him

"It could very well be, which is why they're not sending all of us in." He replied

"So besides Barnes, who else is going?" Calvin asked him

"I believe it's the dragon riders." Karlson replied

"Speaking about them, where are they?" Calvin asked him

"Who knows?" He replied when an APMSF Officer approached them

"General Karlson, one of our drones have spotted an unidentified vessel sailing out of the River Orwell." The Officer said to them

"Roman?" Karlson asked him

"Negative, it's wooden, should we intercept with an assault team or let the navy deal with it?" He replied

"We can't take any chances, send in an assault team." Karlson said to him before looking at Calvin, "You think you can handle another battle?"

Calvin shrugged

"Probably wouldn't hurt to get some more experience." He said

"Very well, I'll inform Sergeant Solomon to get his squad ready." Karlson replied

"Solomon?" Calvin replied

"I believe you call him Eddie." Karlson said to him

"Oh." He replied

"Also Calvin before you go, have somebody take you to the armory and get you geared up." Karlson said

Calvin nodded

"Yes sir." He said before he left

"Are you trying to get him killed?" Tesla asked Karlson telepathically

"What?! No! What in the hell makes you think that?!" He replied

"Well you don't seem to hesitate when you send him into battle." She said to him

"He's going to be fine Tesla! Just calm down, sheesh." He replied, "If it makes you feel any better, I'll go with him."

Tesla snorted

"If you're going, I'm going too." She said to him

"Very well then, let's go intercept a ship." He replied

**In route to intercept unidentified vessel **

**1444 Hours **

Calvin, now fully geared up with ammunition and equipment, was with Echo Squad in the passenger compartment of UH-55 "Mallard" Tiltjet, the primary utility VTOL of the Americans' People Military and U.S Armed Forces while Tesla and Karlson flew alongside it with two AH-57s

"So how did we end up with this mission again?" Asked Hazel Smith, Echo Squad's Medic

"I believe Mr. Karlson here volunteered us." Eddie replied as he motioned to Calvin, "So Calvin, can you care to brief us?"

"Sure, our mission is to intercept an unidentified vessel spotted by a drone sailing out of the River Orwell, we do not know at this time if it's hostile nor do we know if it has any cargo or what kind if it does, so it's our job to intercept it before it gets blown out of the water by one of our warships." Calvin said to him

"Rules of engagement?" Katrina asked him

"Do not fire unless fired upon, warning shots however are permitted if the vessel does not heed to any orders to stop." He replied

"Aww that's no fun." Jordan replied

"We're got a visual on the vessel!" The Pilot of the Mallard shouted over the radio before something hit the front of the VTOLs as the Pilot laughed, "Those dumbasses are firing nets at us! What should we do sir?"

"Fire a warning shot across the bow!" Karlson replied

"Roger that! Firing warning shot!" The Pilot shouted as he fired a single rocket across the vessel's bow, "They're not responding!"

"Unidentified Vessel! You are about to enter waters patrolled by Coalition warships, stop and prepare to be boarded!" The Pilot shouted over the Mallard's loudspeaker as another net hit the front of the VTOL, "These guys aren't giving up!"

"Then lets show them who's boss, take our their mast!" Karlson shouted

"Yes sir!" The Pilot replied as he turned the VTOL to face the vessel with one of its door-mounted miniguns manned by the VTOL's crew chief, who began to belch out a barrage of armor-piercing incendiary rounds at the mast pole that chewed through it and brought it down, immobilizing the vessel

"Vessel immobilized!" The Crew Chief shouted

"Roger that, inserting boarding party!" The VTOL Pilot replied as he brought the VTOL to a hover over the vessel before opening the side doors and dropping down cables

"That's our cue Echo!" Eddie shouted, "Calvin you first!"

Calvin nodded and stood up before he hooked himself to one of the cables and descended down to the vessel's deck before quickly disengaging the hook and pulling out his rifle as one of the ship's crewman charged at him

"I don't think so!" Calvin shouted as he smacked the man in the face with his rifle and sent him to the ground before pointing it at the other crew members as the rest of Echo Squad fast roped down to the deck

"Who do you people think you are destroying my mast and boarding my ship?!" Shouted the Vessel's Captain with an accent, a tall muscular man either in his late 20s or early 30s with black hair

"Your fault for sailing into a war zone buddy, now hands where we can see them!" Eddie replied, "NOW!"

"I'm not putting my hands anywhere until I get an explanation, I need to deliver these dragons and their riders to Drago Bludvist!" The Man shouted

"Who?!" Calvin asked him as Karlson and Tesla landed behind him and Echo as the AH-57s circled around

"Katrina! Don! Check the cargo hold!" Eddie shouted

"Yes sir!" Don replied as he and Katrina ran to the ship's cargo hold with Katrina stomping on the lock and opening the door revealing the dragon riders with their restrained dragons below

"What you took you guys so long?!" Astrid shouted

"Oh you got some guts trying to take these guys away from us!" Calvin shouted at him, "Now identified yourself before I show you what a pulse round looks like!"

"I am Eret, son of Eret." The Man shouted

"He's a dragon trapper!" Hiccup shouted as he and Toothless came out of the cargo hold

"Dragon trappers?! Didn't know that profession existed!" Karlson shouted with his translation collar

"Dear gods, talking dragons! Drago would love those!" Eret said as Calvin saw him reaching behind his back before he shot him in the elbow

"Keep your hands off my parents you son of a bitch!" Calvin shouted

"Your parents?!" Eret asked

"It's of none of your concern Eret, nor is it any of this Drago's." Karlson said to them, "But as of right now you are now our prisoners because these riders belong to a Viking Tribe allied to the United States and the Coalition, which means you just committed an act of war against several major world powers."

"An act of war?!" Eret asked them, "Is this what you call this?! All I saw was your forces just slaughtering the Romans and their allies!"

"Never said it was a fair fight." Karlson replied, "Echo Squad, arrest these twats and prepare them for transport back to base."

"Yes sir." Eddie said as he and the rest of Echo Squad approached Eret and dragon trappers with their weapons trained

"So you're taking orders from dragons as well?!" Eret asked him, "What is going on here?"

"Shut up! Really getting tired of you running your mouth!" Calvin replied as the dragon riders and their dragons escaped from the cargo hold

"Thanks guys, we owe you one." Hiccup said to Karlson and Tesla, who nodded when Eret suddenly tried to attack Calvin with a knife, but Calvin forced him to drop it when he delivered a quick and painful kick to his groin, made even more painful by Calvin's steel-tipped boot

"Dammmmnnnnn." Jordan replied as Calvin handcuffed Eret

"Drago is not going to take this lightly when he doesn't get his dragons!" Eret said to them as he caught his breath, "I promise you that."

"Oh please, if we can fight the Romans and Blackwater, we can fight this Dorko Bludvist of yours." Katrina replied

"Who's Drago Bludvist?" Karlson asked Hiccup telepathically

Hiccup shrugged

"I have no idea, this is the first time we've heard of him and this is the first time we've heard of dragon trappers too." He said

"You think your technology will deter Drago?! He has an army of dra-" Eret shouted before Calvin delivered another kick to his groin

"Told you I was getting tired of you running your mouth!" He shouted at him

"Was he about to say this Drago guy has an army of dragons?" Eddie asked Karlson as Eret nodded

"Probably just another madman working for Gene Corp or an alias for Yates." He replied with his translation collar

"Gene Corp?! We sell dragons to them too! If anything they give us a better price than Drago does!" One of Eret's Crew shouted as Calvin yanked Eret off the deck

"Damn Calvin is pissed off." Tesla said to Karlson telepathically

"At least he's unleashing that anger on them rather than us." He replied as the Mallard returned and hovered just off the ship's portside with its side doors opened

"We'll take this Eret guy back to the airfield ourselves, Calvin you're with us." Karlson said to Echo Squad, "The rest of you take the overs back on the VTOL."

Calvin nodded and pushed Eret down

"Why you little-!" Eret shouted before he was grabbed by Karlson, who took off with him while Calvin climbed onto Tesla and took off with the dragon riders

"Well that was eventful." Tesla said with her translation collar

"Yeah it was." Calvin said, "I think if I had kicked that Eret guy one more time like that I would've broken his pelvis, who did he think he was anyway?!"

"I'm more concerned about this Drago Bludvist guy than I am that Eret." Hiccup replied, "You think we're going have to deal with him eventually?"

"I don't know." Tesla said, "But whoever he is, I hope we find Sheva, Emily, and the others before he does, if even he exists."

"By the way Eret was talking about him, I would say he's the real deal." Astrid replied

"Nothing that a sniper can't solve." Karlson said over the radio as Calvin took off his helmet to scratch his head

"Head itches?" Hiccup asked him

"Yeah, not used to having hair…and dandruff" Calvin replied as he placed his helmet back on

"You'll get used to it." Hiccup said to him, "So when you turn back…will you still have the scars?"

"Yeah because they're on my arms, nothing is going to get rid of those." He replied

Calvin sighed before he continued

"And they're not the worst ones."


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Dark Energy**

**Camulodunum Airfield**

**Task Force Therian**

**March 21st****, 2246 – 1943 Hours **

With the airfield now fully repaired, Barnes was in a hangar with the dragon riders and an APMSF Alfa Squad, an elite Special Forces unit of the APM as he prepared to brief them on their mission

"Before we begin, I would like to remind all of you that this could be a one way trip, so I'm giving you one last chance to back out." Barnes said to the Riders with his translation collar

Barnes quietly sighed when none of the riders even budged before he continued

"As you all know, Gene Corp has initiated an evacuation of Rome, the largest population center in the entire Roman Empire along with everything within a 100,000 mile radius of its city center and nobody besides Gene Corp knows why and they're sending us in to find out."

One of the Alfa Squad Operatives turned on a projector which projected an aerial reconnaissance photo of Rome onto the wall behind Barnes as he continued

"We will be inserted above the city at an altitude of 35,000 meters via Ghost Osprey at 2132 hours, at 15,000 meters we will engage the cloaking devices which are currently being fitted onto my, yours', and your dragons' armor before we engage our chutes, which will slow our descent and give you time to pull your dragons up before you splatter on the ground."

"35,000 meters? I think we've never flown our dragons that high before." Hiccup said to Barnes

"Which is also why our armor is pressurized and has built-in oxygen tanks." He replied, "I believe they call this specific kind of jump a HALO."

"HALO?" Astrid asked him

"High-altitude low-opening, it means we're jumping out of the aircraft at a high altitude and opening our chutes at a much lower one." One of the Alfa Squad Operatives replied, "And at 35,000 meters it also means we're going to be jumping above the clouds, which is very dangerous considering it's a night jump even with NVGs."

"So how do we get out once we find what we're looking for?" Astrid asked Barnes

"A Russian sub will be waiting for us offshore near Ostia." He replied

"You mean what's left of Ostia?" One of the Alfa Squad Operatives asked him

"Does it really matter?" Barnes asked him, "We leave as soon as the engineers finish the modifications to our armor."

Samantha came running into the hangar toward Barnes and jumped onto him, knocking him onto his back as she purred

"Hi Sam..." Barnes said to her as he placed his wings around her

"Please don't go on this mission, I have a really bad feeling about it." She said to him telepathically

"Samantha I have to and what do you mean you have a bad feeling about it?" He asked her

"I just feel like something bad is going to happen." She replied

"Samantha this is what we signed up for." Barnes said to her

"I know...but I don't want to lose you." She replied

"You're not going to lose me." Barnes said to her, "It's just a reconnaissance mission."

"A reconnaissance mission that could be a one-way trip according to you...I was kind of eavesdropping." She replied

Barnes sighed as Samantha rested her head on top of his chest

"Do you guys want to be left alone for a bit?" Hiccup asked them

"Yeah if you don't mind." Samantha replied with her translation collar

The dragon riders and Alfa Squad left the hangar leaving Barnes and Samantha by themselves

"If you're going, I'm going too. We're mates, we're supposed to stick together." Samantha said to him

Barnes sighed

"You're difficult you know that?" He asked her

Samantha smiled

"I think if I wasn't difficult you wouldn't be here right now." She said to him

"You're probably right." He replied, "I'm sure the engineers have a spare cloaking device that they can fit on your armor although they probably too happy about it."

"You know it's been a while since we've last done this." Samantha said to him

"Cuddle?" He asked her, "Yeah it has been a while, in fact I think the last time we did it was in Arizona after I purposed to you."

"That was one of the happiest days in life." She replied

"It's one of mine too." Barnes said, "Now come on ,if you're going to get a cloaking device fitted on your armor we need to get moving."

Samantha nodded as Barnes withdrew his wings so she could get up

"Meet me and the riders at the Mallard when you're ready." Barnes said to her

Samantha nodded and ran to get her armor as Barnes sighed

"I love that woman." He said quietly

**Over Rome – 35,000 Meters**

**2127 Hours **

The passenger compartment of the MH-55 "Ghost Mallard" Stealth VTOL was dimly lit as Barnes, Samantha, the dragon riders, and the Alfa Squad prepared for the jump into Rome

"Five minutes until jump!" The Jump Master screamed as the cargo ramp of the Mallard began to drop behind him

"Okay everybody get ready!" Barnes shouted as the Alfa Squad Operatives began to mount onto him and the dragon riders' mounts with their riders

"Are you going to be okay back there?" Astrid asked the Alfa Squad Operative who got behind her on Stormfly

"I'll be fine, you just worry about getting us both on the ground safely." He replied

"THREE MINUTES!" The Jump Master shouted as Barnes, Toothless, and Samantha went to the head of the ground

"Is everybody ready?! Barnes shouted

"I'm ready!" Hiccup replied as he pressurized his armor and Toothless' while the other dragon riders did the same before Barnes and Samantha followed

"No matter what happens out there, we all stick together!" Barnes shouted

"Thirty seconds!" The Jump Master screamed

Barnes took a deep breath

"JUMP!" The Jump Master screamed

Barnes, Toothless, and Samantha jumped out of the Ghost Mallard and were followed by the other dragon riders as they free fell through the night sky and cloud cover

"Keep an eye on your altimeters!" Barnes shouted over the radio to the others, "Engage cloaking devices!"

Barnes and Samantha engaged their cloaking devices as Hiccup engaged Toothless' while the other riders did the same with themselves and their dragons while the Alfa Squad Operatives activated their personal cloaking devices

"I can barely see anything!" Hiccup shouted over the radio as they went through the cloud cover

"I am really starting to think this was a BAD idea!" Fishlegs shouted

"Shut up and do what I say!" Barnes replied as they finally broke through the clouds revealing the city of Rome below them

"Looks like they didn't even bother to turn the lights off!" Samantha shouted, "So where do we start looking?"

"Intel indicates that Gene Corp has a large research facility beneath the Imperial Palace, so I guess that will be the place!" Barnes replied

"The Imperial Palace?! Isn't that place going to be heavily guarded?!" Snotlout shouted

"It most likely will, but we need to get in there to see what's going on!" One of the Alfa Squad Operatives replied

"Deploy chutes!" Barnes shouted before everybody deployed their chutes which slowed their descent enough for them to pull them before they were automatically disconnected

"Whoa, we actually made it!" Astrid shouted, "Now where are we going to land?"

"Well first we need to find a way to infiltrate the Gene Corp Facility beneath the Imperial Palace without being detected!" Barnes replied

"What about those ventilation shafts over there?!" Hiccup asked him

"They're to our left." Toothless said to Barnes telepathically

Barnes looked down at the large ventilation shafts near the base of the Imperial Palace

"Yeah that's defiantly our ticket it in, but we're going have to cut through the grating!" Barnes said to them, "Good work you two!"

"You let me and Stormfly handle the grating!" Astrid shouted as the group headed to the ventilation shafts where she and Stormfly disengaged their cloaking devices as the latter began to cut through the grating covering one of the shafts and the fan behind it with her magnesium fire while the others kept watch out for any patrols or guards

"Wow this place is a ghost town!" Tuffnut Thornston said

"Only makes our job easier." Barnes replied as Stormfly finished cutting a hole through the grating and the fan

"Got it!" Astrid said quietly over the radio as the Alfa Squad began to enter the shaft through the hole and were followed by Barnes, Samantha, and the dragon riders

"Watch your step in here because you never when there could be a drop." One of the Alfa Squad Operatives said to the post-human Night Furies and the dragon riders as they continued down the shaft, disengaging their cloaks

"Why do these need such large shafts?" Astrid asked

"Who knows." Barnes replied

"I've got some light up ahead!" One of the Alfa Squad Operatives said

"It must be the other side, Yule you're on point!" Another Alfa Squad Operative replied as one of them took the lead while the group slowly and cautiously continued toward the light, which was indeed the other end of the shaft which came into a large underground parking garage where Gene Corp Security Guards were evacuating a large group of scientists

"Doctor Hatfield you need to leave, there is nothing more we can do!" One of the Scientists shouted to one of his colleagues

"I have to try!" The Other Scientist replied as her colleagues tried to keep her from running back into the facility as they dragged her into one of the trucks when suddenly the entire facility shook as a powerful shockwave traveled through it, causing the concrete to crack and the lights to flicker

"WHAT IN THOR'S NAME WAS THAT!" Fishlegs screamed, alerting the Gene Corp Security Guards inside the parking garage to the presence of the group

"INTRUDERS IN THE VENTILATION SHAFTS!" One of them shouted

"FORGET ABOUT THEM! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Another replied as Barnes plasma blasted away the grating covering the ventilation shaft allowing him and the others to enter the garage as the Gene Corp security guards fired their weapons at them and the Alfa Squad

"Neutralize the guards and secure the scientists, they might know what's going on here!" Barnes shouted as he plasma blasted a security guard as another shockwave rattled the facility, further damaging it

"This entire place is falling apart!" Astrid shouted

"I can see that!" Barnes replied as he dodged a large chunk of falling concrete as the facility continued to shake as the trucks that the security guards had been loading the scientists onto began to pull out as the last of the security guards jumped on them as another shockwave traveled through the facility

"Okay fuck this! Lets get out of here!" Barnes shouted as he took off

"What about them?!" One of the Alfa Squad Operatives asked as they mounted the dragons with the dragon riders

"Screw them! If we don't get out of here we're going to be buried alive!" Barnes replied, "Regroup at the extraction point!"

"See you there!" Hiccup shouted as he and the other riders took off out of the parking garage through the same way the trucks did while Barnes and Samantha flew out together and when they got outside, a large storm with an eye was forming over the Imperial Palace as it and the surrounding area crumbled

"What the hell is going on?!" Samantha screamed

"I have no idea!" Barnes replied, "Lets just get as far away from this place as we can!"

Meanwhile on the ground, the Gene Corp convoy was moving as quick as it could through the city

"Hurry! Hurry! It's starting!" One of the Scientists shouted as Doctor Azura Hatfield watched the Imperial Palace and most of the surrounding area collapsed into a large sinkhole where two large vortex of greenish-blue energy shot up into the eye of the growing dark energy storm

"Oh no, what have we done?" Azura said to herself when all the sudden the canvas covering the bed of the truck she was was ripped away by a Monstrous Nightmare before she was grabbed by a Deadly Nadder and it's rider

"Got her!" The Deadly Nadder's Rider shouted as Azura screamed, "Now lets get out of here!"

The dragon riders flew as fast as they could away from the city center

"What did you people do?!" The Alfa Squad Operative riding on the Nadder with Astrid shouted to Azura

"We built a dark energy reactor and now it's reached critical mass..." She replied

"You what?! Kid get us far as away from this place as you can!" The Alfa Squad Operative shouted to Astrid as Azura held Stormfly's right leg as tightly as she could as she watched the vortexes move in circles around the sink hole

"Barnes?! Can you hear me?!" Hiccup shouted over his radio

"Yeah! What's going on?!" Barnes replied

"We just captured one of those scientists and she's saying that they've built some kind of dark energy reactor and that's it's gone unstable!" Hiccup shouted

"Shit! Find a place to get below ground!" Barnes replied

"What about the extraction point?!" One of the Alfa Squad Operatives asked him

"Screw it! If we don't find shelter we're going to get disintegrated!" He replied

"There's a facility we abandoned a couple of years ago down there!" Azura screamed, "We should be safe there!"

Behind the riders the vortexes converged and transformed into a ray energy that shot up straight into the eye of the storm as the riders landed outside the entrance of the abandoned Gene Corp Facility

"How do we get in here?!" The Alfa Squad Operative asked Azura as she ran to the control console for the door and pulled the lever that began to lift open the door

"Hurry! Get in there!" She shouted as the riders and their dragons and the Alfa Squad rushed into the facility as Barnes and Samantha landed and ran in after them before Azura pulled the switch back down causing the door began to lower itself as she ran toward it and slid under it before it closed completely just as the ray of dark energy began to thin before it exploded into a massive bright light of greenish-blue that engulfed all of Rome and most of the surrounding area while inside the abandoned Gene Corp Facility, one of the Alfa Squad Operatives lit a flare and threw it to the ground

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME WERE YOU PEOPLE THINKING?!" Barnes screamed telepathically at Azura as he pinned her to the ground

"Yates didn't give us any other choice, if we didn't build it for him he would've had me and the other scientists turned into dragons!" She replied

"Why would Gene Corp want a dark energy reactor?!" Samantha asked

"I don't know, Mr. Yates never told us why he wanted it!" Azura replied

"So how long are we going to be in here?" Hiccup asked

"Maybe an hour or two." One of the Alfa Squad Operatives replied

"I'll be more worried about what's going to happen after we get out of here, because now this is a whole new game." Barnes said to them with his translation collar

**Kansas City, Kansas – Coalition Verse **

**Coalition Headquarters **

**2139 Hours **

General Smict's jaw dropped along with everybody else' in the command room when they saw the map on the wall in front of him detect the dark energy explosion at Rome, showing it as a bright white bubble

"What the hell just happened?! Did somebody nuke Rome?!" Smict screamed

"No sir, we didn't detect any mission launches, but we are detecting a large pulse of energy coming from the blast...looks like dark energy!" A Coalition Officer replied

"WHAT?!" Smict screamed, "What Barnes and his team?! Did they make it out?!"

"We've lost all contact with them." Another Coalition Officer replied

"Wait! We're detecting another dark energy pulse, this one's in Denmark!" Another Coalition Officer shouted

"It is another rift?!" Smict shouted

"We don't know sir, we don't have eyes there!" The Officer replied

"Contact our forces in Britannia, I want an invasion of the mainland to be launched, NOW!" Smict shouted

**Somewhere in the Alps **

**Gene Corp Facility **

Cameron was sitting at his desk playing a crossword puzzle when a Blackwater Officer barged into his office making the Gene Corp CEO fall back in his chair

"What is it with you guys and barging in here like that?! Do any of you-" Cameron shouted at him as he got up

"Sir, the dark energy reactor in Rome has exploded!" He replied

"WHAT?! How bad is it?!" Cameron asked him

"The entire city is gone along with most of the surrounding area and a large part of the team we had working on the reactor has been killed." He replied, "We also have confirmed report of a rift forming over ground zero along with another one forming over Denmark."

"What?! How is there a second rift forming?!" Cameron asked him

"We don't know sir, the only people who could have told us that died in the explosion." He replied

"God dammit! Form defensive perimeters around the rifts over Rome and Denmark, if anything starts to come out of them I want to be prepared for it!" Cameron shouted

"Yes sir." The Blackwater Officer replied


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: **Catherine **

**USAS **_**Patton – **_**Hangar Bay **

**Task Force Therian **

**March ****21****st****, 2246 – 2140 Hours**

The post-human dragons were sleeping soundly in the hangar and cargo bays as Calvin, who was pinned beneath the head of his sleeping mother, was looking at the ceiling trying to sleep while he remembered the advice that Wensky had given him the night before

"Better times, better memories, better times, better memories." Calvin repeatedly whispered to him as he thought about the numerous memories he had of Sheva and Emily before they were kidnapped as he tried to fall asleep, but unfortunately the _Patton's_ alarms began to wail, waking the post-human dragons

"Not again..." Calvin said to himself as he laid his head back while his mother lifted up her head

"I wonder what's going on now?" Karlson said tiredly before he yawned

"Who knows? They sound those alarms for anything nowadays." Replied Carville, another American post-human Monstrous Nightmare as an APM Officer came on over the PA System

"GENERAL QUARTERS! GENERAL QUARTERS! ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

An APMSF Officer came running into the hangar toward the Karlsons as he shouted

"General Karlson! All hell has literally broken loose on the mainland!"

"What do you mean?!" Karlson asked him

"There's been a confirmed dark energy explosion in Rome and we've possibly got rifts opening up over what used to be Rome and Denmark!" He replied and everybody in the hangar when quiet

"WHAT?! What about Barnes and his team?! Have we heard anything from them?!" Karlson shouted

The APMSF Officer shook his head

"We haven't heard a word from them since they were inserted, about a few minutes before the explosion and it's...highly unlikely that they survived." He said to Karlson

"Mom?! Dad?!" Zoey screamed as she and her siblings started to cry while Karlson took a deep breath

"What are our orders?" Karlson asked the Officer

"General Smict has ordered a full-scale invasion of the mainland, we are to link up with the USAS _Cape Girardeau_ and _Sikeston_ and the 6th Fleet near Corscia before moving onto Rome to secure the rift and form a defensive perimeter around it in case something tries to come out of it." He replied

Karlson nodded

"And if possible, locate Barnes and his team although as I said, it's highly unlikely that they've survived unless they got somewhere below ground." The Officer added

"We shouldn't lose hope then." Karlson replied, "Okay everybody listen up! I want everybody suited up and combat ready ASAP! I'll be taking over from this point on!"

"First Emily and Sheva are taken from me and now Barnes, Samantha, and the dragon riders are dead, who else is this war going to take from me before it's over?" Calvin thought to himself as he grabbed the duffel bag containing his armor and equipment before heading to the armory

**Four Miles from Ground Zero **

**Abandoned Gene Corp Facility **

**March 22****nd****, 2246 - 0010 Hours **

Barnes and Samantha were cuddled together with Toothless, Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, and Barf and Belch while the dragon riders and the Alfa Squad sat around a lit flare while Doctor Hatfield was in a fetal position in a corner, crying quietly

"So do you guys have names?" Ruffnut asked the Alfa Squad

"We do, but we prefer to keep them to ourselves." One of them replied

"Oh." Ruffnut said

"So how are you guys different from the stormtroopers?" Hiccup asked them

"The stormtroopers are elite assault troopers, we on the other hand handle the covert stuff like sabotage, assassinations, and you know that kind of stuff." One of them replied

"Assassinations?" Astrid asked

"Yep, when the US of A needs somebody taken out, we're the ones they call to do it." One of them replied

"Then why didn't they call you guys in to take out Alvin?" Hiccup asked them

The Alfa Squad's leader shrugged

"Who knows." He said

"So do you think somebody is going to come looking for us?" Snotlout asked them

"If they do, I hope isn't Blackwater, Gene Corp, or that Drago Bludvist guy we heard some stormies talking about." One of them replied

"So you guys have not heard of this Bludvist guy before?" One of the Alfa Squad Operatives asked the riders

"No that was the first time we've ever heard of them." Astrid replied

"I wonder why." The Alfa Squad Leader said, "But something tells me we're going have to deal with him sooner or later, if he even exists that is."

"So who's your superior?" Hiccup asked him

"Usually his dad." He replied as he motioned to Barnes, who didn't even seem to notice them, "But with him gone, I guess it's President Fettle or maybe even General Karlson."

"I wonder what they did with Reaper anyway? Did you think they turned him into a dragon?" One of the Alfa Squad Operatives asked

"Probably, it's Gene Corp, they turn everybody who they get their hands on into a dragon." The Squad Leader replied

"If they did I wonder what species. I always thought one of those Whispering Deaths would be a perfect match for him." Another Alfa Squad Operative said

Barnes snorted

"They probably turned him into a Terrible Terror or something." He said with his translation collar and everybody snickered

"Is that even possible?" Astrid asked

"Who knows." One of the Alfa Squad Operatives replied

"If anything I think the Skrill would be a perfect match for your dad." Hiccup said to Barnes

"I've heard of it, but never actually seen one. Is it the dragon that likes shoots lighting or something?" Barnes asked him

"Yeah, you can only supposedly find it during thunder storms where the lighting recharges it's shot count according to the Book of Dragons." He replied, "We've never seen one ourselves either."

"I've read it can survive for decades frozen in ice because of it's internal body heat." Fishlegs said

"Shouldn't all dragons be able to do that?" Samantha asked

"As far I know I can't do that." Toothless replied, "And I don't want to find out either."

"So have you guys find anything more about that Stormcutter species that Henderson got turned into before he was captured?" Samantha asked the dragon riders

"No, we haven't been able to find anything." Hiccup replied, "It's not even listed in the book of dragons, only in Bork's notes."

"I wonder where Gene Corp got their hands on the DNA for it?" Astrid asked

"Again who knows, they have almost an entire continent under their control." The Alfa Squad Leader replied

"After all he and his squad did for us against the Outcasts, I just can't help but to think we should be out there looking for him and the others." Hiccup said

Barnes sighed

"One thing I will give to Henderson, even though I only scantly knew him was that he defiantly knew what he was doing and he cared a lot for the well being of his squad and everybody around him." He said to them

"He also had a daughter too..." Astrid said, "I can't imagine what her and grandmother are going through right now."

"Well Karlson said that the APMSF was making sure that they wouldn't go hungry or be forced onto the street, but yeah I can't even imagine what they're probably going through right now either. I wonder if they even know if he was turned into a dragon?" Barnes replied

"Probably not." Samantha said before she sighed, "Then you have Calvin...god, he's almost a completely different person now."

"I know, I think he's more like my dad right now that his'." Barnes replied, "Fucking Casca, if I ever get my claws on that asshole, I'm going to kill him."

"I'm surprised we haven't seen head or tail of him during this." Hiccup said

"Me too, he's probably in hiding right now because Gene Corp knows we're after him and his men." Samantha said

"You think they have any more of those lase-do you guys hear that?" Snotlout asked them when the muffled sounds of jet engines began to come from the other side of the entrance as a aircraft flew past the facility

"Is that search and rescue?" Samantha asked

"Doubtful, but it does sound like one of ours, but there is also no way anybody could have gotten out here this fast!" One of the Alfa Squad Operative replied, "I mean we've only been in here for a few hours!"

"Maybe we should go check it out?" Astrid asked

"Yeah maybe we should." Barnes replied as he, Samantha, and the dragons got up, "Everybody seal up their armor! The radiation levels out there are going to be insanely high and I don't want anybody getting radiated!"

The dragon riders nodded and began to seal up their armor before going to do the same with their dragons while Barnes and Samantha sealed their own armor

"What should we do about her?" One of the Alfa Squad Operatives asked as he motioned to Dr. Hatfield

"I say we leave her here for now and come back for her when we have somebody with us." Barnes replied

"What?" Hatfield asked, "You're just going to leave me here?! If it wasn't for me telling you about this place, we would all be disintegrated right now!"

"I know and we thank you for that, but you're also one of the reasons why this is all happening and we're going to need somebody who can explain this to the Coalition and since we don't any additional equipment to give you that will help you survive out there, we can't take you." Barnes replied, "So we'll be back."

"Can you at least leave me some supplies or something?!" Hatfield asked them

"Here take these." One of the Alfa Squad Operatives said replied as he threw her a ration and a few flares

"So how long can we last out there?" Hiccup asked Barnes

"A few hours at the most when the oxygen tanks run out. But hopefully we'll be able to get away from here before then." He replied as one of the Alfa Squad Operatives began to open the door while Azura retreated further into the facility to avoid being radiated as the Alfa Squad led Barnes, Samantha, and the others out of the facility and into the hell that was outside

"Dear gods..." Astrid said as she looked at the newly formed rift over the massive crater that had once been Rome while the surrounding landscape was charred and almost completely barren

"Does anybody see it?" Barnes asked as he and the others looked around for the aircraft they had heard

"Not a thing." Hiccup replied

"Maybe we should try signaling it?" Samantha asked Barnes, who nodded

"Good idea." He replied before he looked at the Alfa Squad, "Do any of you have a flare gun or something?"

"We've got a few signal flares left." One of them replied

"Those will have to do...lets get on top of this hill so they'll see them better." Barnes said to them

"Uh sir, we don't even know if that aircraft we heard was one of ours or not, so I don't think it would be a good idea to signal it until we find out who it is." The Alfa Squad Leader replied

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Snotlout asked him

"Well it's simple, we find it and use our cloaking devices to get close enough to it to identify it." He replied

"And how do we know if it won't detect us even with the cloaking devices?" Barnes asked him

"It's a risk, but it's better than calling it to us and finding out it's hostile." He replied when all the sudden a unseen man shouted

"Hey! I think I heard something over here!"

"Quick activate your cloaks!" The Alfa Squad Leader said quietly as they, Barnes, Samantha, and the dragon riders engaged their cloaks while a small group of soldiers wearing what looked like powered armor approached

"There's nothing here!" One of the Soldiers shouted with a Canadian accent

"I could have sworn I heard voices though!" One of the other soldiers replied when another group of soldiers led by a woman appeared

"What's gaining on here Aidan?!" The Woman asked the Soldier with the Canadian Accent

"The private here claimed he heard voices coming from here." He replied

"Well I don't see any signs of anybody being here." The Woman said to him

"I don't either." He replied

"Move as quietly as you can." Barnes whispered over the radio to the others as they began to sneak away when suddenly the VTOL that they heard earlier returned as it shined a spotlight on the soldiers

"I don't think there is anything here ma'am, otherwise we would've found something by now." The Soldier with the Canadian Accent said to the Woman, who looked at the entrance of the facility

"Have you tried to open these doors?" She asked him

"Negative." He replied as she went over to the control console for the door before she motioned for the soldier and the others to get into position while she placed her hand around the switch

"Oh gods they're going to find Doctor Hatfield." Astrid said quietly

"And she's no doubly going to spill the beans." One of the Alfa Squad Operatives replied

Barnes grunted, but he knew he was right as the VTOL signed it's spotlight on the door while the soldiers got into position

"What are we going to do?" Samantha asked Barnes

"I think we can take them!" Snotlout said

"I don't think we should engage them, we don't know now if they're hostile or not." One of the Alfa Squad Operatives replied with Fishlegs and Meatlug accident bumped into a piece of debris which fell and dumped dust onto them while the noise attracted the attention of the Woman and her Soldiers

"What the hell was that?!" The Soldier with the Canadian Accent asked as the Soldiers shined their flashlights in the direction that the sound came from, spotting Fishlegs and Meatlug as they tried to shake the debris dust off

"What the fuck?!" One of the Soldiers shouted, "STAY WHERE YOU ARE AND PUT YOUR HANDS...OR WHATEVER THEY ARE IN THE AIR!"

Fishlegs and Meatlug froze as the former held his hands in the air

"Uhhh you got be kidding me..." Astrid said quietly when Barnes disengaged his cloak and charged up a plasma blast, which he shot at the VTOL that dodged it

"You all get out of here, I'll lead them away!" Barnes shouted as she shot another plasma blast at the soldiers as they started to fire their weapons at them while Meatlug, Fishlegs, and the others escaped except for Samantha, who also disengaged her cloaking device and joined Barnes as they distracted the soldiers

"Sam, what are you doing?! Get out of here!" Barnes shouted to his wife

"And leave you here by yourself?! I don't think so!" She replied as they took off into the air

"Don't let them escape!" The Woman shouted as one of her men fired a concussion mission into Barnes' and Samantha's path

"Incoming!" Barnes shouted, but before he or Samantha could do anything, the missile flew ahead of them and exploded, hitting them with a powerful shockwave that knocked them both of the sky

"SAM!" Barnes screamed as he got up and ran to Samantha, who had been knocked unconscious by the concussion missile as the Woman and her Soldiers rushed toward them

"Surround them!" The Woman shouted as Barnes reached Samantha and began trying to revive her

"Stay back!" Barnes roared with his translation collar as he got between the Woman and Samantha and began to snarl and growl

"So you can talk?! Good!" The Woman shouted, "What the hell are you?!"

Barnes hissed, but replied

"I am General Barnes of the Americans' People Military Air Corps and you, whoever you are, have just committed an act of war against the United States and her allies!"

"Is this some kind of sick joke?! My son has been dead for over century and the APMAC was with the rest of the APM merged with the WHF's armed forces!" The Woman shouted

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?! I am defiantly not your son because my mom was killed after I was born!" Barnes shouted with his translation collar as the VTOL shined it's spotlight on him

"I will ask you once again! Who the fuck are you?!" The Woman screamed at him

"FUCK OFF!" Barnes shouted at her telepathically as Samantha slowly began to regain consciousness

The Woman took a few steps back, shocked by the sound of Barnes' voice in her head

"That voice...it can't be..." The Woman said

"Barnes...?" Samantha said to Barnes weakly in dragonese

"Sam!" He shouted when he turned to look at her when one of the Soldiers shot a round into his rear right leg, causing him to fall down

"WHAT?! NOOO! HOLD YOUR FIRE! HOLD YOUR FIRE!" The Woman screamed as she ran toward Barnes while he crawled toward Samantha, his injured leg leaving behind a trail of blood

"Sam...Sam..." Barnes said to Samantha weakly as Hiccup and Toothless dove down from the night sky and struck one of the VTOL's jet engines causing it to spiral out of control towards Barnes and Samantha

"No! No!" The Woman screamed as Barnes jumped up and used his body and wings to cover Samantha while the Woman threw herself onto Barnes' head

"What the hell?!" Barnes thought to himself when the VTOL crashed and exploded nearby, sending wreckage flying everywhere as Samantha screamed in terror while the other riders and their dragons along with the Alfa Squad descended onto the Woman's men

"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!" The Woman screamed into her radio as she continued to shield Barnes with her body

"Guys! Cease fire!" Barnes shouted into his radio

"What?! Why?!" Astrid replied

"Just do it!" Barnes shouted when the fighting suddenly stopped although everybody was keeping their weapons trained on each other

"Barnes?! What the hell is going on?!" The Alfa Squad Leader asked Barnes as the Woman jumped down to the ground in front of Barnes and looked at him in his eyes

"Barnes...is that really you in there?" The Woman asked him

"Do I know you?" He asked her telepathically when he folded up his visor, but kept the anti-radiation shield up so he could get a clearer view at the Woman without the risk of being radiated although his cat-like eyes caused the Woman to jump back a bit

"Mrs. Reaper?! What's going on?!" The Soldier with the Canadian Accent asked the Woman as kept his gun trained on Hiccup while Toothless growled and snarled at him

"Mrs. Reaper?! What in Odin's name are you talking about?!" Hiccup asked him

"It's the helmet is it?" The Woman asked Barnes before she started to take her helmet off and revealed her face to Barnes, who was shocked as it was the face of his mother, the previously deceased, Catherine Reaper


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Alternate History

**Roman Rift **

**Task Force Therian **

**March 22****nd****, 2246 – 0013 Hours **

Everybody was silent as Barnes stared into the eyes of his previously deceased mother, not knowing what to say or what to do

"I know it maybe hard to understand, but Barnes...it's me." She said to him

"Say something!" Samantha said to him telepathically

"I don't know want to say to you, I never got to know you before..." He replied before he looked up at the rift, "You died."

"I don't understand, what do you mean I died? I thought you were dead! But yet here you are, over a century later, although you're certainly...not yourself." Catherine said

"Mom, I don't know how put this, but I'm not your son." Barnes replied

"What do you mean?!" Catherine asked

"What he means ma'am is that we're from another world that's a alternate timeline of yours." The Alfa Squad Leader said, "And in our world, you were killed in a failed assassination attempt on your husband as you left the hospital with him in your arms, so he never got the chance to know you."

"What do you mean your world?!" Catherine asked when she looked back at Barnes, "Are you saying you came through another one of those things?!"

Barnes nodded sadly

"But...we can always try?" He said to her and she actually being to laugh as she sobbed

"You were always the optimistic one, at least that didn't change..." She replied when two VTOLs showed and pointed their weapons at the dragon riders and the Alfa Squad

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Catherine screamed over the radio to the VTOLs

"Who are these people?" Barnes asked her

"They're my men, we were sent to see what on was the other side of that thing." She replied when she looked down at Samantha, "And who is this?"

"This is Samantha, she's my wife, don't know what I would do without her." Barnes said

"It's nice to finally meet you I guess..." Samantha said to Catherine telepathically

"So how long have you two been married?!" Catherine asked them

"We got married in 2241, so six years now?" Barnes asked Samantha

"Yeah, the best six years in our lives, well for the most part besides Gene Corp showing up again and starting this war." She replied with her translation collar

"Gene Corp?! War?!" Catherine asked her, "Is this Gene Corp the people who did this to you?!"

"Yes." Barnes replied

"Why?!" Catherine asked him

"They wanted to use him and the others as weapons against us in their attempt to overthrow the APP, but luckily we were able to find out what they were doing before could fully realize it and defeated them for the first time." The Alfa Squad Leader replied

"Others?! Who else did they do this too?!" Catherine asked him

"Me, Samantha, Karlson, well actually he did it to himself, Tesla, you'll be meeting her later no doubly, and possibly...dad." He replied

"What do you mean possibly your dad?! He's alive too?!" Catherine asked him

Barnes hesitated to reply

"What are you not telling me Barnes?!" Catherine asked him

"Ma'am, our dimension's version of your husband is currently MIA." The Alfa Squad Leader replied, "He and several others including Karlson's daughter was kidnapped by Gene Corp's Roman allies, who have handed them over to him and we do not know their current whereabouts."

"Wait wait, so Reaper...my Reaper...has been captured and you do not know if he's even still human or not?!" Catherine shouted at him, "HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!"

Barnes sighed

"It's kind of my fault too..." He said to her before explaining to her the events leading up to the ambush and the events that followed it

"So you sent them out there with no escorts or anything?!" Catherine asked him

"We thought the battle was over, we had no idea that the Romans were out there!" He replied

"But you knew that General Casca and his men were still possibly on the loose!" She shouted at him, "And now Karlson's son has to deal with those memories of seeing his sister and girlfriend being taken away from him!"

"You think I'm not haunted by that day either?! That happened on both mine and Karlson's watch!" He replied, "And we have been doing whatever we can to find them!"

"Both of you stop it!" The Alfa Squad Leader shouted, "I know you're both traumatized about all this, but we've got bigger problems because I have no doubt that Blackwater and the Roman Army is coming our way to secure this rift and so is the rest of Task Force Therian! So if anything take your anger out on the enemy rather than each other!"

Barnes snorted and Catherine sighed

"Mom, look I'm sorry about dad, but I'm going to tell you this right now, he's probably not the man you knew in your world, your death in our world really changed him." Barnes said to her, "Hell I don't even know how Karlson is goin-"

"Barnes?! Samantha?! Can any of you guys hear this?!" Karlson shouted over his translation collar's radio

"Speaking of the devil..." Barnes said quietly

"Who's that?!" Catherine asked him

"That would be Karlson." He replied with his translation collar before responding

"Yeah Karlson we're all here, you don't know how good it is to hear your voice right now!" Barnes said to Karlson in dragonese, "There is also something you need to know..."

"Well save it for later, we're heading right for you guys and so is a large Blackwater force!" He replied, "Also our scans are indicating you have a lot of unidentified individuals around you, what's going on?"

"That's actually what I want to talk to you-" Barnes said before Catherine grabbed his translation collar

"Karlson?! Is that really you I'm hearing?!" She shouted into it

"Who is this?!" Karlson replied

"It's my mom...apparently." Barnes said to him

"WHAT?!" Zoey screamed over the radio

"Who is that?!" Catherine asked Barnes

"That would be one of our daughters." He replied

"Daughter?!" Catherine asked him, "You had kids?!"

"Yeah." He replied

"Barnes please tell me this is a joke!" Karlson shouted at Barnes

"Karlson I'm standing below a tear in fucking space and time right now, do you think I'm joking?!" He replied, "So yes I am standing right next to my undead mother from another dimension!"

"I...I...don't even know how to respond to that!" Karlson said, "But you guys have a few minutes unt-"

Karlson was cut short when one of the VTOLs were blasted out of the sky by a SAM

"Too late!" Catherine shouted before she looked at Barnes and the wound on his leg, "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah I'll be fine as the internal anti-radiation shield holds up." He replied as she looked at Hiccup and Toothless

"So what does it take to ride one of you?" She asked Barnes

**Offshore **

**Task Force Therian **

Calvin was riding on his father with Eddie and Katrina as he and the rest of the post-human dragons flew to meet up with Barnes, Samantha, and the dragon riders as the rest of the American strike force either followed behind them or moved beneath them in hovercraft

"So Barnes' mom is back from the dead?!" Tesla shouted at Karlson

"That's what it sounded like Tes or that was one convincing impersonation by Samantha or Astrid!" He replied

"This war just keeps getting stranger and stranger!" Eddie shouted

"Tell me about it!" Calvin replied

"Can you fly a little bit slower?! I'm getting motion sickness back here!" Katrina said

Karlson snorted

"You're a stormtrooper, pull yourself together!" He shouted

"So how do we explain to Mrs. Reaper that her husband is missing?" Jordan asked Karlson

"You let me and General Barnes worry about that!" He replied

"Barnes might have already told her about that." Tesla said to him

"I hope not because I do not want to be slapped by that woman because she had the hardest-hitting slap, there was one time she knocked out Reaper slapping him for something." He replied

"How the hell do you knock somebody out by slapping them?!" Calvin asked him

"You don't know Catherine Reaper, she was as bad, if not worst than Reaper when it comes to getting revenge. Oh Gene Corp is in some real trouble now if it's really her." He replied

"Screw Gene Corp, I'm worried about me! What if she blames me for what happened to Rea-" Calvin said

"You don't know that! Just remain calm!" Karlson said to him, "If she does get angry at you, jump on your mother and fly as far as away from her as you can."

Calvin nodded and looked at his transformation device, which showed he had nine hours left before he could turn back into a Monstrous Nightmare

"Just nine more hours, nine more." Calvin thought to himself, "God what am I going to do if we find Sheva and Emily and I'm in this form?"

"Look alive! We're approaching the combat zone!" Eddie shouted as a Night Fury blasted a Blackwater apart a Blackwater attack helicopter

"We're dropping you guys off here!" Karlson shouted to them as he and Tesla landed and lowered their heads so Calvin and Echo Squad could dismount

"Oh god I think I'm going to be sick..." Katrina said

"Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Karlson." Eddie said to Tesla and Karlson as they lifted up their heads and ignited their fire-jackets as APMSF VTOLs began to land and deploy other stormtrooper squads and attack vehicles

"Find Mrs. Reaper and tell me if it's really her." Karlson said to him before he and Tesla and took off

"Do we even know what she looks like?" Don asked

Eddie shrugged

"Something tells me that we'll know when we see her!" He said as he led Echo Squad into the battle with the rest of the deploying 1st Legion

"Who are you guys?!" A Soldier with a Canadian Accent asked them

"APMSF 1st Stormtrooper Legion, Corporal Calvin Karlson!" Calvin replied as he and Echo Squad took cover behind the wreck of a VTOL

"General Barnes told us about you Mr. Karlson!" The Soldier said to him, "Name's Aidan Cornwall!"

Aidan and Calvin shook his hands

"So where's Mrs. Reaper?" Calvin asked him

"Up there on her son!" He replied as he pointed upward, "He and his wife really put up a show!"

Meanwhile up in the air with his mother on his back, Barnes was chasing after a Blackwater ground-attack jet with Toothless and Hiccup

"So what am I supposed to do?!" Catherine asked her son

"Just hold on!" He replied as he and Toothless simultaneously plasma blasted the Blackwater jet and shot it down

"Good kill!" Catherine shouted as the jet crashed into the Earth and exploded while Karlson and Tesla joined them

"There you are!" Karlson said to Barnes before he noticed Catherine riding on him

"Is that Karlson?!" Catherine asked Barnes

"Yep..." He replied with his translation collar as Karlson looked at Catherine

"Oh my god that is really her!" He said to Barnes in dragonese, "Does she know about Reaper?"

"Yeah I told her about him and Calvin." He replied as the USAS _Cape Girardeau_ disengaged it's star-field camo and starting bombarding the Roman and Blackwater forces beneath it with it's batteries of plasma cannons

"Holy fuck! What is that thing?!" Catherine shouted

"It's a _Cape Girardeau_-class Airship, it's literally a flying battleship and aircraft carrier." Barnes replied

"You guys actually built those in your world?! I always thought those were just a fucking pipe dream!" Catherine said

"That doesn't look like a pipe dream to me!" Barnes replied, "Those and _Patton_-class are literally the back-bone of the Coalition's military operations in this war!"

"Speaking about the Coalition...are you guys still allies with Europe and Russia?" Catherine asked

"Yeah, some of the people under my command are Russian and European. Why are you asking?" Barnes replied

"Just wondering because they kind of wiped out most of the world in our dimension in a nuclear exchange between them in 2063, killing my Barnes and Reaper in the process." Catherine said to him

"What?!" Karlson asked her, "In our world World War III ended in 2062 and no nukes were ever launched...well successfully besides those French ones that your son and the 502nd had to blow out of the sky."

"How did they die?!" Barnes asked her

"Well my husband and our Karlson was tending some god damn tank convention thing in a Russian tank museum and my son and his squadron were escorting them back to the United States when a nuke went off right below them as they flew over a Russian city." She replied

"So they had no warning at all?!" Karlson asked her

"Nope, none at all. The Europeans launched their nukes first for a reason we are yet to know and then the Russians followed suite and within a few hours everything was fucked up." She replied, "Things got so bad that we, the Canadians, the CAU, and SAU banded together to form the Western Hemispheric Federation or WHF."

"So's who in charge?" Karlson asked her

"President Emmonds and the heads of state for Canada, CAU, SAU, but we, Canada, and the Central American Union have most of the power."

"What happened to the APM?!" Tesla asked her

"It was reformed and became the foundation of the Western Hemispheric Armed Forces while I, Aidan, and Margaret took control of the 1st Stormtrooper Legion shortly before it was renamed into the 1st Special Purpose Assault Unit or 1st SPAU." She replied

"Who's Margaret?" Barnes asked her

"In our world, she's your youngest sister." She replied

Barnes' eyes widened

"Wait wait so he has a sister too now?!" Hiccup asked her

"Yep." She replied

"What could have been..." Barnes thought to himself

"So where is she?" Karlson asked Catherine

"She's with the rest of the SPAU on the other side of the rift, which should be joining any minute now." She replied

"NET LAUNCHERS!" Tesla shouted as several nets were launched at them by specialized Roman artillery guns

"Net launchers?!" Catherine screamed as Barnes performed evasive maneuvers to avoid the incoming nets as the crews of the launchers began to reload

"We need to take those things out!" Karlson shouted

"Agreed!" Barnes replied as he began to charge up a plasma blast, "Hold tight back there!"

"What?!" Catherine asked before he dived down at one of the cannons and destroyed it with the plasma blast before pulling back up with Catherine screaming and holding on around his neck the entire time as Karlson and Tesla landed near one of the cannons and attacked it's crew as the other crews finished reloading and fired up at Barnes and Catherine as Toothless and Hiccup took out another cannon with a plasma blast

"Okay those things are really starting to tick me off!" Catherine said as Barnes dodged the second wave of nets while charging up another plasma blast and diving down at one of the other cannons and destroying it the plasma blast before pulling up again as Karlson and Tesla attacked the crews of another one of the cannons when another battery of them started to set up nearby

"More of them?!" Hiccup shouted over the radio

"Why are they firing nets at us?!" Catherine asked

"Because they think we're they're property since we were turned into dragons using their technology!" Barnes replied as he avoided another net

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Catherine shouted when Karlson and Tesla finished destroy the last cannon of the first battery and began to take off when Tesla was suddenly snagged by a net from the second battery

"TESLA!" Karlson shouted over the radio

"Shit, we're going in!" Barnes shouted to Catherine as he landed near Tesla as Roman and Blackwater infantry started to close in on her, "I'll hold these guys off, you cut her loose!"

Catherine nodded and pulled out her knife before she started to cut away at Tesla's net as Karlson joined Barnes in holding off the attack Roman and Blackwater soldiers

"So I'm guessing you're Tesla?" Catherine asked Tesla, who nodded

"The one and only." She replied telepathically

"You know I never imagined Karlson to be the type to get married and have kids." Catherine said

"I didn't either until he turned himself into a Monstrous Nightmare to be with me." Tesla replied

"So how old are your kids now?" Catherine asked her

"Human-wise they're only five years old, dragon-wise they're in their twenties." She replied, "They grow up fast."

"Human ones are not that different, trust me. Time flies by fast and you should enjoy it as much as you can." Catherine said to her

"Watch out!" Tesla shouted as a Roman Soldier charged at them with his bayonet, but he was quickly dispatched when Barnes whipped him with his tail, throwing him several meters while Catherine finished cutting through the net holding Tesla down, freeing her

"It's not over yet we have to take out the rest of those cannons!" Catherine replied as Toothless and Hiccup took out another net launcher as Zoey, Leon, Anna, and Preston joined them

"Come on Tesla lets get out of here before one of us gets netted again!" Karlson shouted to Tesla

"It was nice meeting you." Tesla said to Catherine before she and Karlson took as Barnes plasma blasted the crew of a Roman machine gun

"Come on mom we need to get out of here too!" Barnes shouted to Catherine as he dodged a net

"Coming!" She shouted as she ran to Barnes and climbed onto him while Roman and Blackwater tanks exchanged fire with the advancing Pershing II and Megathon tanks of the 1st Legion that were also taking out the remaining net launchers as Barnes took off into the air while Samantha was enjoying being reunited with their children

"These guys aren't kidding around! Looks like they're sending everything they've got at us!" Catherine shouted

"They're always sending everything they have at us!" Karlson replied as the advancing APMSF tanks finished off the last of the net launchers and began focusing on the advancing Roman and Blackwater tanks

"So what's going on?!" Barnes asked Karlson

"Everything has gone to hell, we've got another rift forming over Denmark and Smict has ordered a full-scale of Normandy Coast." He replied

"Another rift?!" Catherine screamed

"Yeah another rift, but nothing's came out of it yet as far as we know and command has sent Titov and his men to secure it." Karlson replied

"Titov, that's a name I haven't heard in a while." Catherine said

"Yeah he commands the Russian contingent of our task force, that isn't going to be a problem is it?" Barnes replied

"No." Catherine said

Meanwhile back on the ground, Calvin and Echo Squad were still with Aidan and his men as the rest of the 1st SPAU began to arrive in their VTOLs

"Are these more of your guys?" Eddie asked Aidan, who nodded

"How many of there are you?" Calvin asked him

"It's just us for now, but I have no doubt that larger forces will be coming, although they're not going to nowhere near as large as yours' and the Coalition's since we come from a world devastated by nuclear war where manpower and resources are a bit more limited" He replied

"Uhhhhh...what?!" Katrina asked while the post-human dragons started to land around them making Calvin a bit nervous

"So that's one Calvin?" Catherine asked as she pointed to Calvin while Karlson nodded, "I'm surprised you don't have him in a tank or something."

"He wanted him to, but he chose infantry." Tesla replied as Catherine dismounted from Barnes

"Don't worry Calv she isn't mad at you." Karlson said to Calvin telepathically as Catherine approached him

"Does that armor have anti-radiation shielding?" Catherine asked Calvin

"It does, but it doesn't last very long." He replied

"Well can you take your helmet off please so I can see your face?" Catherine asked him

"Uhhh sure..." Calvin replied as he started to take his helmet off so Catherine could look at his face

"Wow Karlson are you sure this isn't just a clone of you?" Catherine asked Karlson, "He looks exactly like you, admittedly younger though."

"That's what everybody says." Calvin replied, "I look even more like him when I'm in my other form."

"Yeah Barnes told me about that." Catherine said as she grabbed Calvin's arm that had the transformation device on it, "So is this it?"

"Yep that's it." Calvin replied, "Can only do it every 24 hours."

"Interesting, I'm sure a lot of government funding went into developing this." Catherine said to him

Calvin nodded

"That's why I try to take good care of it, but unfortunately some people just let their curiosity get the best of them." He said as he looked back at the dragon riders

"Hey we said were sorry!" Hiccup shouted back to him

"So you're the only one who can do this?" Catherine asked Calvin

"For now I am, it's just a prototype, the doctors who developed are hoping it could open the way to finding a way to allow the others to do it as well." He replied when he realized that some of the post-human dragons were staring at him, making him even more nervous

"Am I making you nervous?" Catherine asked him as she released his arm

"No, it's not you." He replied as he placed his helmet on and sealed it tight, "So are we heading back to the _Patton _now?"

"Not yet, we still need to secure the rift and I want to find more about my sister." Barnes said

"Okay..." Calvin replied as he wiggled his fingers nervously on the handle of his rifle while Catherine realized what was going on

"Hey stop staring at him!" She shouted at the post-human dragons who were staring at Calvin, taking special notice of Pentrov, a Russian Zippleback, "Particularly you, you two headed freak!"

Karlson snorted

"Come Calvin lets take you back to the Patton." He said to Calvin

"Thank you." Tesla said to Catherine telepathically as Karlson lowered his head so Calvin could climb onto him

"See you guys later...I guess." Calvin said to Eddie and the rest of Echo Squad

"Looking forward to it." Eddie replied before he and his parents took off while Barnes roared angrily at the post-human dragons who had been staring at Calvin to get their attention

"I am seriously getting tired of having this talk with you guys! Yes, I know, Calvin can turn into a human, something that we all wish we could do, but you also need to remember how and why we got that ability!" He shouted at them, "He and his parents already have enough on their plates as it is, so the last thing they need is you guys, who are supposed to be their friends and comrades, staring at them! If I catch any of you staring at Calvin like that, I will fucking COURT-MARTIAL all of you! It doesn't help that you were doing it in front of my fucking mom! Understood?!"

The post-human dragons nodded

"Good." Barnes said as Aidan approached Catherine

"Ma'am your daughter is on her way here." He said to her

"Very well." She replied

**USAS **_**Patton –**_ **Hangar Bay **

**0045 Hours **

As soon as his father touched down and lowered his head, Calvin jumped down and took off his helmet

"What am I going have to do to make them stop staring at me?!" Calvin shouted as he threw his helmet to the hangar floor where his mother picked it up with her mouth

"We'll think of something Calvin." Karlson replied as Calvin slouched down against one of the hangar walls while his parents laid in front of them

"And what is Emily and Sheva going to think of me when we find them and I'm in this form?!" Calvin asked them, "Maybe it's best that I stay away from them and the others..."

"Calvin that's only going to make it worst for both you, them, and the others." Tesla said to him as she dropped his helmet on the ground and rolled it toward him

"And not to mention that you're the first person they're going want to see when we find them." Karlson said to him

"Yeah..." Calvin replied as he picked up his helmet and looked at it

"Hey at least you have us, Barnes, and Catherine backing you up." Karlson said to him

"Yeah I guess so." He replied when Adam and Katie Wensky landed in the hangar

"You guys okay?" Wensky asked them

"Yeah." Karlson replied

"What about you Calvin? Sleeping any better?" Wensky asked Calvin

"A little bit, thanks for the advice last night." He replied

"You're welcome." Wensky said to him, "And I wouldn't worry about the whole staring thing, I'm sure it'll all blow over eventually."

"Yeah eventually..." He replied before he yawned

"Tired?" Tesla asked him

"Yeah." He replied, "I haven't really slept since the riders messed with my transformation device."

"Damn then you need to get some rest." Karlson said to him, "But unfortunately we need to return to the front, so I suggest you try to find a free bunk in the crew quarters."

Calvin nodded and stood up

"Actually thinking about it what about you try getting into one of the VIP quarters, since nobody ever uses them anyway." Karlson said to him

"Sure." He replied

**Gene Corp Headquarters **

**0112 Hours **

Cameron Yates was sitting his office staring at a Blackwater General with disbelief as he told about the situation in the Roman Rift Zone

"So the Americans and this so-called 'Western Hemispheric Federation' have allied together?" Yates asked the General, who nodded

"It appears so sir and they're appearing to be coordinating their efforts against us." He replied

Cameron sighed

"And you're also saying that Catherine Reaper, who died over a century ago in our world, is also there leading them?!" He asked him

"According to the reports we've been receiving...it appears that way Mr. Yates." He replied

Yates looked over at the frozen Skrill

"And she's no doubly going to be looking for him." The General said to him

"I know..." He replied, "What about the Danish rift? Any word from our forces there?"

"Everything is quiet, but some of our forces are reporting hearing anomalous transmissions on their radios." The General said to him

"What do you mean by _anomalous_?" Yates asked him

"As in we have no idea where it's coming from and there's some belief that they maybe coming from the other side of the rift." He replied

"Are they sure it isn't interference created by the rift?" Yates asked

"We don't know, but the transmissions are too filled with statics to be understood and there's also chance that's it coming from the Coalition fleet gathering near the Danish Coast." The General replied

"I really doubt that." Yates said, "How long do you think we have until the Coalition launches an attack on forces in the Danish Peninsula?"

"Maybe a few hours at most." The General replied

"Strengthen our defensive positions, I don't want them securing this rift as well." Yates said to him

"What should we do about the American and WHF forces in the Roman Rift Zone? Because to tell you the truth sir sending more forces at them will only be a waste of our times and resources right now defiantly with both the Coalition and Drago Bludvist knocking on our doors."

Yates shuddered at the mention of Drago Bludvist, the mysterious warlord from northern Scandinavia who had been attacking Gene Corp's operations in the region with his massive army of both humans and dragons

"Call off the attack and pull them back to defensive positions in the mountains and I thought we had Bludvist contained?!" Yates asked him

"We did, but his forces have recently made some progress by knocking out several Roman divisions in a series of battles near the Gulf of Bothnia and he also managed to somehow convince a rather large sum of our men to fight for him." He replied

"WHAT?!" Yates shouted, "And how the hell did he knock out several divisions?! I thought his forces were only armed with spears and swords?!"

"He froze them sir as in literally froze them in ice." The Blackwater General replied

"How-" Yates asked before the General continued

"We don't know sir as there were no survivors and it maybe how he's convincing some of troops to fight for him and his men are also starting to pick up a lot of our and Roman's hardware, greatly increasing how dangerous they are and Drago's almost unparallelled ability to control his dragon army is really starting scare the local Nordic tribes, who are beginning to side with him as well and it's seriously starting to threaten our hold on the region."

"What about the Vigilante?" Yates asked him

"Our forces have chased her back into hiding, but we believe we're close to finally locating her hideout so she'll be taken care of soon enough." He replied

"One less problem on our plate..." Yates said, "What about our special prisoners? Is the facility we're holding them still secured?"

"Yes sir, but I suggest we evacuate the prisoners before the Coalition inevitably cuts off Scandinavia." The General replied

"Agreed." Yates said, "I'll dispat-"

"Actually sir I think evacuating them by air is too risky considering the nearby Coalition presence, we might want to consider transporting them by rail to a port and shipping them to the mainland." The General replied

"Good observation, but I understand that a recent Coalition air strike has damaged the rail line leading in and out of the facility? Correct?" Yates asked him

"Yes sir, but it'll take a few days to repair it." He replied

"Good, get it done as soon as possible, I'll hate to loose bargaining chips we can use to score a settled peace with the Coalition if that kind of situation arises." Yates said

"Also sir I would also like to bring up that General Casca and his men are itching to get back into the fight, should we reactive them considering the circumstances?" The General asked him

"Sure, send them to Denmark, but make sure they keep a low profile so the Coalition doesn't sick an entire army on them.." He replied

"Ye sir." The General said

***Author's Notes***

I originally planned to introduce the alternate Coalition Verse and WHF in an earlier version of the Archipelago Wars before I decided to introduce Gene Corp, Blackwater, and the Roman Empire as the antagonists


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: The Great War – Part One

**USAS **_**Eisenhower –**_** Vehicle Bay; Off the shores of Denmark **

**Task Force Therian – Russian Contingent **

**March 22****nd****, 2246 – 0447 Hours **

Colonel Titov was sitting up in the commander seat of his T-185 MBT with the hatch unbuttoned while he impatiently tapped his right index finger on the turret roof and held his head up with the other hand as he waited for he and his strike force to receive the go-ahead to begin their attack on the Roman and Blackwater forces defending the Danish Rift. The T-185 was the primary MBT of the Russian Armed Forces, it was armed with a 155mm smoothbore gun capable of firing ATGMs, two 30mm anti-aircraft guns mounted that was mounted on each side of the turret that was remotely controlled by the commander, and a coaxial 12.7mm machine gun while it was protected by an active-point defense system and blocks of explosive reactive armor(ERA).

"Are we going or what?!" A Russian Tank Commander shouted while Titov sighed

"Unless you want to plummet into the ocean, no!" He replied

"We should've been landing hours ago!" The Commander of a Russian BTR-180 APC shouted, the BTR-180 was a Russian eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier armed with a 30mm autocannon, a coaxial 7.62mm machine gun, a ATGM launcher, and automatic 40mm grenade launcher that could carry up to seven infantrymen

Titov rolled his eyes before planting his face into his hands and shaking his head when the _Eisenhower's _alarms suddenly started to wail

"FINALLY!" Titov thought to himself as he prepared to button up his hatch as he felt the _Eisenhower _start to move forward and descend for landing while he heard VTOLs and attack aircraft flying out of the nearby hangar as cruise missiles were launched by the Coalition warships below

"Colonel Titov! I would like to let you know that the LZ is going to be a bit hot!" Shouted the Captain of _Eisenhower _to Titov over his radio

"Thank you for the heads up Captain!" He replied as he switched the channels so he could communicate with his men, "Okay listen up ladies! The Captain just told me that our is going to be hot, so be ready!"

"Da!" A Russian Tank Commander replied as the driver of Titov's T-185 started up the engine

"So Colonel can you tell us what happened in Rome before we go?!" A Russian Soldier asked Titov over the radio

"All I am going to say about it is that I don't really understand it either." He replied

"Landfall in three minutes!" The APM Officer operating the controls for the offloading ramp shouted to Titov and his men over the radio

"Get ready to kick some Roman and mercenary ass!" Titov shouted

"Two minutes!" The APM Officer shouted again as Roman and Blackwater artillery started to hit the _Eisenhower's _shields as it began to land, "ONE MINUTE!"

The APM Officer pulled the lever that began to lower the offloading ramp and open the vehicle bay doors

"30 Seconds!" He shouted as Titov ordered the driver of his tank to begin rolling forward as the _Eisenhower _finally touched down while the offloading ramp dropped and the vehicle bay doors completely opened

"FOR RUSSIA! CHARGE!" Titov shouted over the radio as his T-185 surged forward down the offloading ramp onto the ground as Roman and Blackwater artillery rained down upon them while the _Eisenhower_'s CISWS' shot down as many of the incoming shells as they could as both Blackwater and Roman forces moved in to engage the Russians as Coalition, Roman, and Blackwater aircraft engaged each other in the skies above

"Secure the LZ!" A Russian Officer shouted as a BMP-80 IFV fired a ATGM from it's 100mm smoothbore cannon and destroyed a Praetorian Guard T-62. The BMP-80 was Russia's primary IFV that was armed with a 100mm smoothbore gun, a 30mm autocannon, and a 12.7mm coaxial machine gun and was protected by an active point defense system while being able to carry nine soldiers in it's rear passenger compartment

"These guys aren't lightening up!" Titov shouted over the radio while a SU-450 rolled out of the _Eisenhower_'s vehicle bay. One of the the largest vehicle in the Russian arsenal, the SU-450 was a self-propelled tank destroyer armed with a massive railgun designed partially to counter the Megathon and to destroy fortifications

"Now we're talking!" A Russian Soldier screamed as the SU-450 stopped and turned to face it's target, a Blackwater T-95 and started to charge up it's railgun

"FIRE!" The Commander of the SU-450 screamed before it's gunner pulled the trigger, firing the railgun that fired a semi-solid slug of plasma that annihilated the T-95 as another SU-450 rolled out of the _Eisenhower_with it's railgun already fully charged

"They're probably shitting their pants right about now." Titov thought to himself as the gunner of his tank knocked out a Blackwater T-95 while the second SU-450 disintegrated a Roman T-34

"LASER TANK!" A Russian Tank Commander shouted as a Blackwater Laser Tank appeared through the bushes, it's laser already fulled charged

"Oh fuck me..." Titov said to himself when another laser tank appeared, "EVERYBODY CONCENTRATE YOUR FIRE ON THOSE LASER TANKS!"

One of the SU-450s immediately turned to face the first laser tank, which stopped and aimed it's laser cannon at the SU-450 as it began to charge it's railgun, but the laser tank fired first and started bore through the front armor of the SU-450, killing it's driver as Titov ordered the driver of his T-185 to move around to get a flanking shot as the other Blackwater laser tank was taken out by the combined firepower of several BMP-80s and T-185s

"FIRE!" Titov shouted to his gunner when they got a clear shot at the side of the surviving laser tank as it finished off the SU-450, which exploded into flames as the heat from the laser ignited it's fuel tanks as the shell from Titov's tank easily knocked out the laser tank

"Thank god that's over..." Titov thought to himself

"Uhhh sir...something is coming out of the rift!" A Russian Officer screamed as a large object began to descend from the rift

"What the hell?!" Titov thought to himself as the object stopped and hovered in midair over the battlefield

"AIRSHIP!" A Russian Soldier screamed as the nearby USAS _Farmington _and _Jackson _moved toward the unidentified airship which began to turn to face them when two more airships appeared from the rift

"Oh fuck..everybody back onto the _Eisenhower_!" Titov shouted before the air and earth trembled as one of the unidentified airships fired a large caliber gun located inside it's bow at the _Jackson_ and somehow managed to get through it's heavy shielding, striking it's port-side plasma cannon battery, crippling two of the cannons before the _Farmington _and_ Jackson_ both returned fire with their plasma cannons, severely damaging the airship but several more airships appeared from the rift, some of which began to descend toward the ground while the _Farmington _and _Jackson _continued to exchange fire with the attacking enemy airships as the offshore Coalition fleet supported them

"We just got here though!" A Russian Soldier shouted as he and several other Russian Soldiers rushed to get back unto the _Eisenhower_

**USAS **_**Patton – **_**Hangar Bay; Over the Roman Rift Zone **

**Task Force Therian – American Contingent **

While Zoey, Leon, and Anna were playing with Catherine, Barnes was trying to get know his new sister, Margaret, who was sitting on an supply crate as she petted Terry, who was curled up in her lap

"So is this your pet or friend?" Margaret asked Barnes

"He's kind of both." He replied, "So...did we...get along in your world?"

"There were moments when we didn't, but most of the time we did." Margaret said to him when she looked at her mother and Barnes' children, "Are you sure they're not going to hurt her?"

"I'm sure." Barnes replied when Karlson rushed out of the cargo bay

"Barnes! Catherine! There is some really bad shit going down up in Denmark! Titov is reporting that we've got hostile airships coming out of the rift!" He shouted shortly before the_ Patton's _alarms started to wail as the usual APM Officer shouted over the PA System

"ATTENTION ALL HANDS! MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS I REPEAT ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS!"

"Okay everybody begin suiting back up!" Barnes shouted to the other post-human dragons

"It's the Archipelago Campaign all over again." Karlson said to Barnes telepathically

"I know..." He replied, "Where's Calvin?"

"He should be in one of the VIP quarters sleeping." Tesla said to him telepathically

"I'll go find him, you guys get ready!" Margaret shouted as Terry jumped out of her lap while meanwhile in one of the VIP Quarters, Calvin had been sleeping peacefully for the first time in months when the alarms scared him awake and made him to fall off of the bed, bumping his head on the floor

"GOD DAMMIT!" Calvin said as he held the back of his head while he got onto his feet, "What the hell is going on now?!"

"ATTENTION ALL HANDS! MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS! I REPEAT ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS!" The APM Officer shouted over the PA System

Calvin grunted as he went to start getting his armor, which he had placed on the nearby desk, on

"It never fucking ends." Calvin thought to himself as he started placed the pieces for the armor onto his body when somebody knocked on the door, which Calvin had locked so nobody could disturb him

Calvin sighed as he rushed to the door and unlocked it before opening it and saw the woman in the WHF uniform on the other side

"Are you Calvin Karlson?" The Woman asked him

"Yeah and who are you?" He replied

"Margaret Reaper." She said to him, "I think Barnes wants you in the hangar."

Calvin sighed

"Let me get my armor on and I'll be right there!" He said to her as he rushed to start to getting his armor back on as Margaret walked into the room

"Are you okay?" Margaret asked him

"No, I was sleeping peacefully for the first time in months!" He replied as he put his armor, "Plus I'm not really in the mood to be stared at by my so-called 'comrades' in the hangar,."

After finishing putting his armor on, Calvin grabbed his GK-47 and slung it over his right arm

"Yeah my mom said that had been a problem earlier." Margaret said to him, "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I ever will be." Calvin said after taking a minute to calm himself

"You know you do look like your father." Margaret said to him before they both left the quarters

"I really wish people would stop saying that!" Calvin thought to himself as he and Margaret ran to the hangar

"So my mom says you can turn into a dragon! Is that true?!" Margaret asked him

"Yeah, just can't do it for another..." Calvin replied before he looked at the timer on his transformation device, "Five hours."

"All hands prepare for emergency transitioning!" An APM Officer shouted over the PA System

"What the hell is going on?!" Calvin asked Margaret

"Your dad said that there are hostile airships coming out of the rift over Denmark!" She replied

"Airships?! Are our airships even designed to be able to fight other airships?!" Calvin asked her

"I have no idea, I come from another dimension remember?!" She replied

"Oh yeah..." Calvin said to himself as they reached the hangar

"There you are!" Karlson shouted to Calvin as he and Margaret came into the hangar

"Yeah sorry I kind of had a rough awakening..." Calvin replied as he rubbed the back of his head where he had hit the floor as the hangar doors began to close as part of the preparation for the transitioning

"Are you going to be okay?" Tesla asked him

"Yeah...yeah, just bumped my head, it's not the worst thing that's happened to me." He replied

Tesla snorted

"So how does this transitioning thing work anyway?" Margaret asked

"Do any of us look like a physicist to you?" Barnes replied while the hangar bay's lights began to flicker as the transitioning process began while the APM Officer began an countdown

"Transitioning in five...four...three...two...one!"

The _Patton _suddenly surged forward and began to slightly rock as it transitioned

"Calvin I want you to report back to Echo Squad, you're going to be staying with them until you can turn back." Karlson said to Calvin

"Okay dad." He replied before he started to head toward the hangar entrance

"And Calvin be safe out there...for Emily's sake." Wensky said to him telepathically

Calvin nodded before he left the hangar bay to find Echo Squad

**Danish Rift Zone **

**Hairy Hooligan Expeditionary Forces **

**0523 Hours **

After forcing the _Jackson _and _Farmington _to withdraw from the battle, the invaders' airships now had free reign in the skies in the rift zone while their ground forces pushed hard against both the Coalition's and Blackwater's forces, forcing the former back to the defensive perimeter around it's beachheads where the Hairy Hooligan Expeditionary Forces and the recently deployed APMSF 5th Stormtrooper Legion were fighting alongside other Coalition forces to hold the line against the Invaders' seemingly endless onslaught while Stoick and Gobber led the HHEF's dragon riders into the battle while riding their own dragons, Skullcrusher, the Rumblehorn and Grump, the Hotburple who were both clad in armor to make them less vulnerable to small arms fire

"Lets give these newcomers a warm welcome to our world!" Stoick shouted as he, Gobber, and the other dragon riders dived down toward the invaders' forces

"Skullcrusher! Fire missile!" Stoick shouted to Skullcrusher, who shot a "missile" of fire at the engine compartment of an advancing invader tank that exploded and disabled the engine while setting it on fire forcing the tank's crew to unbutton their hatches and abandon the vehicle as it began to burn uncontrollably, engulfing the entire vehicle in seconds before it's ammunition started to cook off causing a massive internal explosion that turned the hull of the tank into a burning unrecognizable heap while sending the turret flying through the air

"That never gets old!" Gobber shouted as the turret landed in a nearby pond while a Monstrous Nightmare and it's rider grabbed a hold of an invader light tank and threw it at another invader tank, wrecking the light tank and disabling the other one while two 5th Legion Megathons began to advance forward when an large self-propelled gun took position on a small hill and aimed it's large main gun, that was located in a large casement on the rear of the vehicle's hull, at the nearest of the two advancing Megathons

"What in Thor's name is that thing?!" A Viking shouted as the self-propelled gun fired causing the earth and air to tremble while the shell it fired went right through the Megathon's usually impenetrable force field and struck it's front armor and smashing it in, but not penetrating it while the force of the impact killed the driver and knocked the gunner and commander unconscious and sent the Megathon back a few inches as the other Megathon turned it's turret to face the self-propelled gun as it began to reverse back behind the hill to reload

"Don't let that thing get to cover!" Shouted the commander of the 5th Legion, General Mark Horowitz over the radio who was in his own Megathon that was in hull-down position behind the Coalition's defenses

"You head the man! Hit that thing with every we've got!" Stoick shouted as he directed Skullcrusher toward the self-propelled gun as the other Megathon fired a plasma slug from one of it's railguns that only splattered like a droplet of water against the thick frontal armor of the SPG while the splattered hot plasma rained down onto the nearby invader infantry that burned through their clothing and inflicting terrifying injuries

"What the hell?!" The Commander of the Megathon shouted as Skullcrusher fired another fire missile at the SPG, striking one of it's tracks and damaging it, immobilizing the vehicle

"We're going to need something bigger to take that thing out for good!" Gobber shouted as Skullcrusher fired another fire missile at the SPG and struck the right side of it's casement and did nothing more than scorching it's paint job

"Or just find a weak-spot!" Stoick replied as he directed Skullcrusher to land on top of the SPG's casement where he got off of Skullcrusher and knocked on the commander's cupola hatch

"What is it?!" The Commander of the SPG shouted as he unbuttoned the hatch expecting to see one his comrades but instead saw Stoick

"This!" Stoick replied when he punched the Commander in his face and knocked him unconscious causing him to fall back into the crew compartment as Stoick directed Skullcrusher to breathe fire down through the now opened hatch before he climbed back onto the Rumblehorn and took back off as smoke billowed out from the inside of the SPG

"Good one Stoick!" Horowitz shouted when seconds later the SPG exploded into flames

"But not good enough!" Stoick shouted as the invaders pressed on with their attack while the USAS _Cape Girardeau_, _Jefferson City_, _Sikeston_, _Poplar Bluff_, and _Kansas City_ transitioned in over the Coalition fleet offshore along with the USAS _Patton_, _Bradley_, and _Abrams _

"Now we're talking!" Gobber shouted as the USAS _St. Louis _and _Springfield_ transitioned in with four more _Patton_-class airships

"Look! They're retreating now!" Horowitz shouted as the invaders started to pull back along with their supporting airships

"Should we pursue?" Stoick asked Horowitz

"Negative, we need to regroup and solidify our position!" He replied, "Plus they might even want us to pursue them because who knows how many more of those god damn tank destroyers they have!"

Stoick nodded

"Okay everybody back to fleet!" He shouted to the other HHEF dragon riders when he noticed that in the distance that an invader tank commander was peering out at them with his binoculars from his unbuttoned hatch

"They're watching us aren't they?" Gobber asked Stoick when he noticed the invader

Stoick nodded

"This battle is far from over." He said before he directed Skullcrusher toward the USAS _Patton _while Gobber and Grump followed while the invader tank commander receded back into his tank and buttoned up his hatch

"Driver! Get us out of here before those airships see us!" The Tank Commander shouted to his driver over the tank's internal radio

"Yes sir!" The Driver replied as he revved up the tank's engine before going into reverse

"So what's our next move commander?" The Tank's Gunner asked him

"I think a better question is what they're going to do next." He replied, "Driver take us back to the division CP, I need report my 'findings' to my brother."

"Yes sir!" The Driver shouted

"So do you think these Coalition people are going to be a lasting problem like the Eastern Empire has been?" The Loader asked him

"I don't know, I'm personally more concerned about these Gene Corp and Blackwater people if what we've been hearing about them from the POWs we've taken is true." He replied

"You mean the whole turning people into dragons thing? It all sounds like a bunch of science fiction hogwash to me." The Gunner said

"Just shut up, I need to think." The Commander said to his crew


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: The Great War – Part Two

**USAS **_**Patton**_** – Hangar Bay; Over the Jutland Bank **

**Task Force Therian **

**March 22****nd****, 2246 – 0542 Hours **

The USAS _Patton _and _Eisenhower _were hovering alongside each as Barnes prepared to brief the rest of the post-human dragons, dragon riders, and the 502nd about their new enemy who had now been identified while Stoick, Skullcrusher, Gobber, and Grump watched

"I know the events of the past few hours has everybody on edge, but I need you all to focus." He said, "These so-called 'Isotxians' are proving to be quiet the headache for the Coalition and we still know very little about them or what they're capable of besides the fact they are quite capable of laying down some serious hurt as evidenced by the Megathon that they crippled without even having to dent it's shields."

"How did they do that?!" Karlson shouted with his translation collar

"I might be able to answer that." An APM Engineer replied as he entered the hangar with four more engineers who were pushing in a large shell on a cart, "This here is the same type of shell that was used to cripple the Megathon, we estimate it to be at least 240mms, but that isn't the most interesting part, it's the material that the shell is made out of that is baffling us."

"And why is that?" Karlson asked him

"Although you can't see it, the material is generating a shield of energy which is what allowed the shell that crippled the Megathon to get past its shields." He replied

"And how is it doing that?!" Karlson asked him

"We don't know, we've never seen anything like this before, but we also think that it also increases the hitting power of the shell as well which is what allowed it to damage the Megathon." He replied, "The armor on their tanks and airships are also made of the same material, which is why our railguns, plasma cannons, laser cannons, and whatever else we use that fires a form energy hasn't been gutting them alive like they do with other tanks."

"Is there a way around it?" Barnes asked him

"Thankfully yes, it has been shown that concentrated or sustained energy and projectile weapons fire wears down the field overtime, but the material itself is actually durable as well, almost on the same level as kletonium, but the frontal armor on most of their heavy tanks are penetrable at close ranges with conventional tank rounds." He replied, "But problem is though that these people have a lot of god damn tanks and their airships are large enough to take quite a beating."

"So how are we going to beat these guys?" Astrid asked

"Exactly my question!" Stoick replied

"Well we can't beat them without first learning more about them and I'm personally interested in learning why they came through the rift with guns ablaze." Karlson replied

"And that's what command is interested in too because as far as we know neither the Coalition nor Gene Corp has done anything to provoke this kind of action." Barnes said

"Maybe it was a preemptive strike?" Catherine asked them as she and Margaret came into the hangar, fully suited in their combat armor

"That's a possibility." Barnes replied

"Are you saying these people probably attacked us and Gene Corp because they thought we were going to attack them?!" Stoick asked him

"The Israelis used to do it all the time when they thought their neighbors were about to throw a punch at them" Karlson replied. "And there's an old saying, attack is the best defense."

"But that was saying said before we knew other dimensions weren't science fiction." Barnes said

"Good point." Karlson replied, "So what are we going to do then?"

"Recon, Command wants us to infiltrate their lines and learn everything we can about the Isotxians and why they're here with any means necessary including taking prisoners for questioning." Barnes said to him

"That should be fun, what about Calvin? As much as I hate to diss on my own flesh and blood, his stealth skills aren't exactly the best in the world." Karlson replied while Tesla nodded

"It's true, he can't be stealthy at all." She said

"Well I can guess he can stay behind with the rest of the 1st Legion and help defend the beachheads if the Isotxians try to attack it again." Barnes replied

"Yeah I guess that's the best option." Karlson said while in the vehicle bay, Calvin was with the rest of Echo Squad while they prepared for their deployment

"So how long do you have now?" Katrina asked Calvin, who looked at the timer of his transformation device

"Four hours." He replied

"So where does all that additional weight go when you turn from a several ton Monstrous Nightmare to a several pound human?" Jordan asked him

Calvin shrugged

"Don't ask me, ask the nanites, they're the ones who do all that shit I'm just the one they're doing it to." He said

"And what about the horns, wings, the spines, the tail, and the fire breathing, what happens to all that?" Jordan asked him

"I said before, I don't know, all I know is that I lose it when I turn human." He replied

"It must suck ass not being able to fly." Eddie said to him

"Yeah…" He replied before Don slapped him on the back

"Hey! At least you get to be with us!" He said to Calvin

"Yeah, I have to admit you guys are great to work with." He replied

"So what happens when that timer runs out and we're in a combat situation, will you change then?" Jordan asked him

"Depends on the situation, if it calls for it, yes. If not, no." He replied, "Plus the last thing I want is Gene Corp finding about me being able to change and sending their henchmen after me, I want to rescue my sister and girlfriend, not join them."

Calvin sighed

"It's okay Calvin, I'm sure they're out there somewhere." Eddie said to him

"I hope so too sir." He replied quietly

"So what do we know about these Isotxians?" Katrina asked Eddie

"Not much besides that one of their tanks crippled one of the 5th Legion's Megathons and survived a direct hit from another one." He replied

"Jesus, how did they do that?!" Calvin asked him, "My dad always told me that modern Megathons are near indestructible!"

"Not against these people apparently." He replied

"What about the Isotxians themselves?" Jordan asked him

"The general consensus is that they fight like hell no matter if the odds are against them or not." He replied, "But speaking of Isotxian soldiers, we have also received strict orders from command to not shoot their medics or any vehicles that appear to be ambulances because we have received reports of them taking good care of our wounded and we don't want to risk killing somebody trying to help one of our guys or blowing up one of our guys up as they're taking care of him or her."

"Makes sense, are they going to be shooting at our medics though?" Hazel asked him

"From what I've heard no." He replied

"Wow so for once we're fighting somebody who actually gives somewhat of a shit about the Geneva Convention…and they're from a entirely different dimension." Don said, "In fact have we ever fought anybody who even remotely cared about the Geneva Convention?"

"Besides the 'brief' episode where he had to fight the Frenchies, no." Eddie replied

"Even though it's been over a century, I still can't believe we got attacked by the fucking French!" Katrina said

"Nobody believed it, but it happened." Hazel replied, "Well then again back then a lot of people still didn't like the fact that we won the Second Civil War."

"You know by the way you guys and the others keep talking about the past, I'm glad I'm missed it." Calvin said to them

"Oh don't fool yourself, there were good times too back then." Eddie said to him, "Sadly enough, some people just like to dwell on the bad parts."

Calvin nodded

"And I'm one of them." He thought to himself when an APMSF Officer approached

"Echo Squad! You're being deployed!" The Officer shouted to them as they all stood at attention

"May I ask where to sir?" Calvin asked him

"The beachheads, you're to help the rest of the Legion and the other Coalition forces defend them if these 'Isotxians' try to take them again." He replied

"Yes sir!" Eddie said

"And I guess you must be the general's son!" The Officer said to Calvin

"What makes you think that sir?" He asked him

"Because you look a lot like him." He replied

"God dammit." Calvin thought to himself, "Is every person I meet in this form going to say that to me?!"

A few minutes in the hangar, Stoick and Gobber were getting ready to leave on Skullcrusher and Grump when Stoick overheard two APMSF Officers talking

"So did you hear about those dragon trappers that we captured back in Britain?" One of the APMSF Officers asked the other

"Yeah, I heard they worked for some nutcase trying to build a dragon army." The Other Officer replied

"That's what I've heard too, I think they said his name was Drawgo Bloodfist or something like that." The First Officer said as Stoick froze

"Is something wrong Stoick, you look like you've seen a ghost!?" Gobber said to him as Stoick dismounted and ran over to Barnes and Karlson who were talking to each other

"You two know about Drago Bludvist?!" Stoick asked them

"Yeah, we captured a group of dragon trappers in Britannia yesterday that said-. " Karlson replied

"I know that part, but I've also manage to overhear that he's building an army of dragons?!" Stoick asked him

"That's what they told us too, but other than that we know about Drago, but I'm guessing you know him judging by the way your face looks." He replied

Stoick sighed and nodded

"I wouldn't say that I know him, but I have encountered him before." He said before he told them about the story where he and the other chiefs were attacked by Drago's armored war dragons after he arrived at their meeting and how we was the only survivor

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Barnes replied, "And you never thought about telling us about all this before?!"

"That was almost over twenty years ago General and I haven't seen or heard from him again before now." Stoick said, "Do you know what he plans to do with this dragon army?"

"No because up to this point we just thought those dragon trappers were just trying to scare us into releasing them, but that didn't stop me from sending a report to the CIA to see if they could find anything about him in all the Roman and Gene Corp documents we've captured back in Britain." Karlson replied, "But it would've been better if you had told us about him earlier."

"I should have, but I didn't. I'm sorry." Stoick replied, "But if he's building an army, we need to stop him before he makes his first move against us, if he already isn't!"

"We will, but for now we have bigger concerns." Barnes said

Stoick nodded

"So where are you keeping these dragon trappers of his'?" He asked them

"We put in them stockades at the airfield back in Britannia, where they should still be at." Karlson replied

Stoick nodded

"I'll have to pay them a visit." He said

"Well when you do, be sure not to hurt them too bad, because they might be able to give us vital information since they also told us that Gene Corp also bought dragons from them." Barnes replied

Stoick nodded

**Gene Corp HQ **

**0602 Hours **

Cameron Yates and the Roman Emperor, Marcus Salvius were in the war room of Gene Corp's Headquarters with several Roman and Blackwater Generals as they studied the situation in Denmark on the large miniature table map before them

"These 'Isotxians' are smashing us to bits, we need to withdraw our forces now!" One of the Blackwater Generals shouted

"If we abandon Denmark, we risk losing our Scandinavian colonies to Drago Bludvist, whose forces are already on the move again!" A Roman General replied

"Then we'll let the Isotxians worry about him! The Blackwater General replied

"That's actually a tempting idea, but unfortunately we have vital facilities in Scandinavia that we can't afford to lose to that madman or be cut off by the Isotxians or for that matter the Coalition." Yates said to him

"What do you suggest we do then, Mr. Yates?" One of the Other Generals asked him, "With the main Coalition invasion force pouring into Gaul through their beachheads in Normandy and the WHF and American forces trying to breakout from the Roman Rift Zone, we don't have the forces to spare for a counter-attack."

Yates sighed

"Then we'll have to take another and more drastic measure." He said, "Have we identified any particular Isotxians that would be any use to us as hostages?"

"We've identified a few high-ranking officers that could meet that criteria, but we don't know if the Isotxians are the type that will negotiate with us over a single man or woman." A Blackwater General said

"Then we'll capture a lot of Isotxians and use them." Yates replied, "In fact send Casca and his men in to do it, tell him to gather as much Isotxians as he can, it doesn't matter what rank they are."

"Yes sir." The Blackwater General said


	11. Intermission - Introducing the Isotxians

Intermission – Enter the Isotxians

Before I move onto the next chapter, I'm going to introduce to you the Federal Republic of Isotx and its armed forces, the Isotxian Self-Defense Forces (ISDF), which I originally developed as the Commonwealth of Isotx and the Commonwealth Self-Defense Forces (CSDF) for use in the Human-Combine Wars. So without further ado, let's get to it so you can move on to the next chapter and see how they view dragons, Vikings, the Coalition, Blackwater, Gene Corp, and the Roman Empire(the latter of which they're already somewhat familiar with).

Federal Republic of Isotx (FRI)

**Government**: Federal Republic

**Head of State**: Prime Minister Omerson "Ome" Vincent

**Headquarters**: Chicago, Capital Province

The Federal Republic of Isotx and her Commonwealth was created in 1989 with the unification of her predecessor states, the Northern Isotxian Republic (NIR) and the Republic of Southern Isotx (RSI), which was a final desperate attempt by their leaders to deter the never ending aggression of the Eastern Empire, who had first attacked them almost fifty years before hand in the now so-called "First World War" when the Eastern Empire's vast armies suddenly attacked and stripped the two republics of most of their hard-earned colonial possessions in Europe and the Pacific before they were finally able to put an effective defense before the conclusion of the war in 1951 where the two republics momentarily put an end to the Eastern Empire's attacks. But the Eastern Empire resumed their operations later that decade in 1956 and continued until 1989 with the final Invasion of the Commonwealth of Britannia, only two months after the creation of the Federal Republic, sending shockwaves through the Isotxian government and the ranks of the newly formed Isotxian Self-Defense Forces although they successfully repulsed the Imperial invasion force after a week of fighting as the Isotxians and their leaders finally realized that were would be no peaceful resolution to the Eastern Empire's aggression and began to look at an option that had been repeatedly considered over the years, but ridiculed as being impossible to implement, a contingency plan codenamed _Unthinkable _by the North Republican Officer who originally drew it following the conclusion of the First War which called for a massive joint offensive against the Eastern Empire to retake the occupied colonial possessions in both Europe and the Pacific, and ultimately the invasion and destruction of the Eastern Empire, but with all the other options exhausted and the Isotxians now desperate for a solution to their crisis, they slowly and surely took up the task, throwing all their resources and their unrivaled industrial capacity into preparing for their last final gamble for peace, the global offensive, starting first with the Pacific.

At first the Isotxians started small, launching commando raids against the Eastern Imperial outposts on the various small islands scattered across the Central and Western Pacific while small hunter-killer groups of both aerial and sea-borne warships prowled the Pacific preying on Eastern Imperial commerce and lone warships, but gradually the Isotxians intensified their operations as their industrial complex became more and more geared toward war production, launching small-scale invasions and offensives in the Pacific, retaking entire island changes and slowly pushing west toward Australia before finally in 1991, Operation War Thunder was launched when Army Groups Charlie and Delta launched a two pronged offensive in the Pacific while the Grand Pacific Fleet and it's airships supported them while also seeking out for the total destruction of the Eastern Imperial Pacific Fleet, which was quickly scattered across its various bases in the Indian and Pacific Oceans giving the Isotxians total control of the seas opening the way for a full-scale invasion of Australia, the former crown jewel of the RSI's colonial empire, in 1993. With their massive successes in the Pacific, the Isotxians turned their attention east to the Atlantic where like it's Pacific counter-part, the Grand Atlantic Fleet had already secured naval superiority after defeating the Eastern Imperial High Seas Fleet in the Battle of Halten Bank in 1992 and forcing it to retreat into the Baltic while Army Group Alpha, the largest of the four offensive Army Groups assembled for the global offensive, commanded by the venerable Field Marshal Erwin Schnitter the 30th and Army Group Bravo commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Abra prepared to cross the European Channel for the next and most important phase of the global offensive, Operation Previous Owner, the invasion of Europe which was launched in 1994 and like in the Pacific, the Isotxians made massive gains, liberating the Commonwealths of Gaul and Hispania by the end of 1998, but this was short-lived.

Starting in 1999, the Eastern Imperial Military finally began to recover from the shock of the sudden outburst of Isotxian aggression and start to mount an increasingly effective defensive effort against the Isotxians, greatly slowing their campaigns, the worst being in Europe when the Imperial 9th Army deployed itself in defensive positions on the Rhine River in the path of Army Group Alpha's planned push into Germania, where they held off the Isotxians until 2004 while in Southern Europe, Imperial forces in the Italian Peninsula took positions in former North Isotxian fortifications in the Dinaric Alps and the Appennini Mountains slowing Army Group Bravo's advance to a mere crawl and in some areas, stopping it completely. But the real show stopper came in 2004 when Army Group Alpha finally broke through the Eastern Imperial defenses on the Rhine after the Isotxian 3rd Army led by General George Chadaface performed a surprise amphibious landing in Northern Germania that forced the Imperials to withdraw from their positions on the Rhine. Like with its earlier offensives in Gaul, Army Group Alpha made massive gains in Germania, securing the cities of Hanover, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Cologne, and Munich with little to no resistance, but that ended when the first Isotxian troops reached Berlin, the capital of Germania, where the Eastern Imperial forces in Northern Europe had regrouped under the command of Field Marshal Erwin Schnitter's most hated rival, Supreme Marshal Georgy Joensuu who had no intention of letting the city into Isotxian hands without a fight and so the Battle of Berlin began. Despite the both efforts of both side to gain and maintain the initiative, neither Army Group Alpha nor Joensuu's forces were able to claim victory and the entire Northern European Front bogged down into a stalemate while Army Group Bravo managed to force the Eastern Empire to withdraw from the Italian Peninsula after employing large numbers of earth-shattering earthquake bombs to breakthrough their mountain defenses, but was unable to break through the Imperial defenses in the Dinaric Alps due to constant counter-attacks, bogging down the Southern European Front. And in the Pacific Theater, things were not going any better for either side as battle of Australia bogged down in the scorching hot deserts of the continent's interior as the previously cut-off Imperial forces commanded by Supreme Marshal Aleksandr Leshchyov began to receive supplies via massive convoys of strategic airlifters and airships while in the Northern Pacific, Army Group Charlie found themselves in a strategic quagmire because of a lack of practical invasion targets and so the entire global offensive came to a screeching halt as neither the Federal Republic of Isotx or the Eastern Empire was able to break the deadlock.

**2011** – As the Second World War continues to rage into its twenty-second year across the Western Pacific and Central Europe, the Federal Republic of Isotx is suddenly caught by surprise when an anomaly suddenly appears in the sky over the province of Altoona, the most densely populated area in the entire Federal Republic of Isotx which is quickly revealed to be a gateway to another dimension where a faction known as the "Coalition" was fighting a mysterious organization known as Gene Corp and it's Blackwater and Roman allies for control of the other side of the gateway, sparking off fears that both of them intended to invade the mainland using the "gateway". Determined to prevent the creation of a third front, Isotxian High Command ordered the national defense forces or the so-called "Home Army" commanded by Field Marshal Mark Reed October along with a small airship fleet commanded by Air Admiral Ewan Duncan to move through the gateway and attack both the Coalition and Gene Corp and its allies before either of them could mount an invasion while thirty veteran divisions were recalled from Central Europe to back the largely inexperienced Home Army including the famous 3rd Armored Division commanded by the second-oldest son of Field Marshal Erwin Schnitter, Major General Erwin Schnitter the 31st and his two brothers, Manfred and Harrison.

By the time Isotxians launched their preemptive strike, the Coalition was launching a full-scale assault on the Blackwater and Roman forces already deployed around their end of the "gateway" and both sides were caught completely by surprise when the first Isotxian airships descended from the gateway and started their attack by severely damaging one of the two Coalition airships that moved to engage them while the lead elements of the Home Army made landfall and secure the area directly beneath the gateway for use as a landing zone and assembly area for the rest of the Home Army, who quickly followed as the Coalition was forced to withdraw its airships from the immediate area while its forces and those of Blackwater and the Romans retreated with the Isotxians in pursuit with the Coalition being pushed all the way back to its beachheads before a larger Coalition airship magically appeared over its naval fleet forcing the Isotxians to withdraw from their attack on the beachheads themselves. However in return allowing the Isotxians were allowed to focus their efforts on pushing back and holding against the far more stubborn and aggressive Blackwater and Roman forces to the south and north of the gateway. However at the same time, rumors of horrible experiments being committed by Gene Corp on its prisoners are spreading like wildfire through the ranks of the inexperienced Home Army that are at the same time, dismissed by the experienced Isotxian soldiers from the European theater, who believe that such atrocities are impossible. However unbeknownst to the Isotxians, the truth will soon be revealed and change their entire world.

Minor Factions

**The Northern Isotxian Republic (NIR) (Mentioned Only)**: Commonly referred to as the "Northern Republic", the Northern Isotxian Republic, before the outbreak of the First World War in 1939, was the most powerful of Federal Republic's predecessors, possessing the largest industrial capacity, population, and military and was its height considered to the dominant world power due its ability to project it's power across the world with its unrivaled navy. Although it has now ceased to exist as an independent nation, many North Isotxians considered the Federal Republic of Isotx to be a continuation of its legacy and many of its military traditions are still practiced in the Isotxian Self-Defense Forces, which was organized heavily off the lines of the North Republican Military while most of the ISDF's equipment has North Republican origins.

**The Republic of Southern Isotx (RSI) (Mentioned Only)**: Although it never rose to the same level of greatness as its Northern counterpart, the Republic of Southern Isotx or the "Southern Republic" was the world's second largest economic and military power before the outbreak of the First World War. However most of the ISDF's Special Forces and elite infantry divisions including its paratroopers and commandoes have their roots in their South Republican precursors.

**The Eastern Empire (Mentioned Only)**: The most hated enemy of the Isotxian people for the past seventy-two years, the Eastern Empire stripped the NIR and RSI of their colonial possessions in both Europe and the Southern Pacific in the First World War and continued to attack them for years until the launching of the global offensive where the Isotxians are now the ones launching endless attacks against the Eastern Empire. **Author's Notes**: The Eastern Empire won't play a major part in this story, but it will later.

**Kingdom of China** **(Mentioned Only)**: Protectorate of the Eastern Empire

**Chanian Federation** **(Mentioned Only)**: The dominant power of Africa, the Chanian Federation is the only other nation in the Isotx Verse that isn't either an Isotxian Commonwealth or a protectorate of the Eastern Empire. The Federation only has a miniscule amount of industries and is largely a feudal backwater controlled by a xenophobic apartheid government that neither the Federal Republic of Isotx of the Eastern Empire willing deals with.

Other Previous Events Mentioned (1500s-1989)

**The North and South Isotxian Wars of Unification (1500s-1804)**: The series of wars and other conflicts that brought about the creation of both the North Isotxian Republic and Republic of Southern Isotx.

**The First and Second Industrial Revolutions (1760s-1914)**: Period of intense industrialization and scientific innovation in the NIR and RSI before the outbreak of the North-South War in 1914.

**The Golden Age of the Republics (1837-1914)**: Time period in which both the NIR and RSI began to expand their influence overseas, creating their colonial empires while their rapidly growing economies and societies flourished. It is also in this time period where the NIR conquered the Isotx Verse Roman Empire, securing its dominance in Europe.

**The Chanian Wars (1884-1892)**: Series of naval and ground conflicts between the NIR, RSI, and the Chanian Federation, ending with a NIR and RSI victory while the Chanian Federation's economy collapsed and its empire fell apart.

**The North-South War (1914-1918)**: The only war between the NIR and RSI, the North-South War broke out over a dispute over territory bought by the Northern Republic from the Southern Republic for the construction of a canal through the isthmus of Central Isotx when a newly elected South Republican Prime Minister refused to recognize the NIR's claim on the land and sent forces to retake it resulting in a confrontation and the outbreak of a major war that wasn't all too different from our World War I, except this time in Central America. The war ended in 1918 with the Treaty of Havana, where the RSI recognized the NIR's claim to the Canal Zone.

**The Eastern Imperial Incursion of 1920 (1920)**: In 1919, the NIR's Commonwealth of Southern Slavia suddenly suffered a major economic downturn when a corrupt government official robbed the Commonwealth of the all contents its treasury before fleeing causing a major uprising that the NIR deployed it's military to suppress while a new government was established, a move that the neighboring Eastern Empire took as an act of aggression and attacked, but was quickly beaten back. However the North Isotxians did not pursue or seek to punish the Eastern Empire for its actions due to exhaustion from the North-South War allowing the Eastern Imperial Military to learn from its mistakes and correct them.

**The First World War (1939-1951)**: The first major war between the NIR, RSI, and the Eastern Empire that broke out in 1939 when the Eastern Empire once again attacked the Commonwealth of Southern Slavia, this time using a modernized military that quickly pushed the North Republicans out of the region before expanding the war into the nearby Commonwealths of Germania, Northern Slavia, and Roma by mid-1940 and forcing the North Republicans out of continental Europe in 1941 and then invading Britannia later that year and then attacking the RSI's possessions in the Southern Pacific in war finally came to a "close" in 1951 when the RSI and NIR finally managed to stop the Eastern Empire's attacks in the Southern Pacific and on Britannia.

**The Time of Troubles (1956-1989)**: Time period where the both the RSI and NIR faced continual Eastern Empire attacks on their remaining colonial possessions in the Pacific and on Britannia before the formation of the Federal Republic of Isotx in 1989.

Other Notes:

= The Atom was never split in the Isotx Verse, so nuclear power or weapons don't exist

= Isotxian Computers are extremely primitive, search up something called ENIAC and that's what an Isotxian "computer" looks like.

= The Isotxians do have guided weapons, but they're extremely unreliable, so therefore rarely ever used.

= Television was never invented and neither were satellites as neither the Isotxians nor the Eastern Empire have even a basic space program.


	12. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: The Great War – Part Three

**Isotxian Airship (IAS) **_**Jacob B. Klaus **_- _**Timothy C. Adams**_**-class Transport Airship **

**Isotxian 3****rd**** Armored Division **

**March 22****nd****, 2011(Isotxian Calendar) – 0610 Hours**

After helping the Isotxian Home Army chase the Coalition back to their beachheads and being forced to fall back after the arrival of more Coalition airships, the Isotxian 3rd Armored Division was ordered to load their tanks and other vehicles onto the _Klaus_ and several other _Adams-_class airships so they could be redeployed to assist the Isotxian paratroopers being dropped behind the Blackwater and Roman defenses guarding the Oddesund Bridge.

"According to the Intel we've managed to get from our aerial reconnaissance flights, there is at least a single brigade-sized unit of Blackwater tanks stationed on the southern side of the bridge along with at least seven or six Roman and Blackwater infantry divisions." Said Julie Schnitter, the 3rd Armored Division's Chief Intelligence Officer and the only sister of three Schnitter Brothers, who commanded the division, "But good news is that they're nowhere near as good as the Coalition when it comes to armored warfare nor is their technology as advanced, so you don't have to be worry about being engaged by one of their tanks from four miles away."

The _Klaus's _alarms started to go off to indicated that the airship was about to start landing

"Son of a bitch, I was hoping we were going to have more time!" Shouted Major General Erwin Schnitter the 31st, the second-oldest Schnitter brother and the main commander of the 3rd Armored Division, "Everybody to your vehicles!"

"Okay just to make this short, our object is to help the paratroopers secure the bridge and hold it until we can relieved!" Julie shouted as Manfred and Harrison, her two other brothers rushed to their tanks alongside the crews of the other tanks while Erwin, her fraternal twin, stayed with her

"I hate this job sometimes." Julie said to him

"I do too, but unfortunately it's part of our job of being Isotxians." He replied, "So do these guys have dragons like the Coalition?"

"As far as we know, no." Julie said

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" An Isotxian Officer shouted over the intercom before something large struck the _Klaus_ on its starboard side, "Damage teams report to Sector II!"

"Must have be one of those cruise missile things!" Julie shouted as the engines of several tanks suddenly rumbled to life

"We better get to the war room because things are going to get hectic in here real quick once those doors open and I don't want one of us to get hit by a bullet." Erwin replied

Julie nodded before she and Erwin left the vehicle bay while inside his tank, Manfred Schnitter the 6th, the second oldest Schnitter brother was shouting at his crew over the internal radio system of his Panzerkampfwagen XVII "Ripper" heavy tank as they prepared to roll out

Originally produced in the Commonwealth of Germania as a stop-gap measure to give Army Group Alpha something to counter the newest Eastern Imperial heavy and medium tanks, the Panzerkampfwagen XVII "Ripper" heavy tank was one of the newest additions to the Isotxian tank fleet armed with a high velocity 140mm rifled tank gun that could take out even the toughest of Eastern Imperial heavy tanks, a coaxial 7.62 machine gun, and two hatch-mounted 12.7mm heavy machine guns for the commander and loader and protected by several inches of Isotxian steel armor plating, making it a difficult target to destroy, even by the likes of the APMSF's railgun-armed Pershing IIs.

"Get the gun loaded, button up all the hatches, and start up the damn engine!"

"On it!" The Driver replied as he started up the Ripper's engines which shook the tank as they roared and rumbled to life as black smoke shot out from the exhaust pipes on the back of the tank

"Twenty seconds until deployment!" An Isotxian Officer shouted over the intercom system of the _Klaus _as Manfred's gunner and loader buttoned up their hatches and got into their positions before they opened the breech for the main gun and started to load an armor-piercing round into it

"Gun loaded!" Manfred's Loader shouted after he pulled the lever that pushed the shell into the gun breech and closed it

"LZ is hot! I repeat the LZ is hot!" The Isotxian Officer shouted over the intercom as the sounds of battle began to echo from outside the airship's hull while it descended as the vehicle bay doors slowly came open

"Remember your training men and these mercenary and Roman scum will lament the day they opened a gateway to our world!" Manfred shouted over the radio to the other Isotxian tank commanders as the _Klaus _touched down as shells and other munitions began to pound against its heavily armored hull as the vehicle doors finished lowering allowing the Isotxian tanks inside to roll out while the _Klaus_ shot out smoke shells to screen their deployment

"For the Republic!" An Isotxian Tank Commander shouted as the first Isotxian tanks, several FV-002 "General Chadaface" medium tanks, rolled out from the airship's vehicle bay

The FV-002 "General Chadaface" medium tank was the backbone of the ISDF's armored divisions and was armed with a 105mm high velocity rifled tank gun, a coaxial 7.62mm machine gun, and a single 12.7mm machine gun that was pintle mounted on the commander's cupola and like the Ripper was protected by several inches of Isotxian steel armor plating, although not as thick as the Ripper's

"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" Manfred screamed as the Driver moved the Ripper moved forward out of the vehicle bay with Harrison's Ripper following right behind them as another _Adams_-class airship landed and began to deploy more of the 3rd Armored Division's vehicles alongside Isotxian Air Marines, Isotxians soldiers who specialized in attacking from airships, and mechanized Isotxian infantry riding in armored personnel carriers

"GUNNER! Target Roman…is that a fucking T-55?!" Manfred shouted as he spotted a T-55, an outdated Eastern Imperial medium tank, with Roman markings on it sitting in entrenched position, "Yeah it is…all well…GUNNER BLOW THAT SHIT UP!"

Manfred's gunner turned the turret of the Ripper tank to face the Roman T-55 while the driver slowed down to allow the gunner to get off a more accurate shot at the Roman tank as fired ineffectively at an Chadaface before he fired the main gun and sent the armor-piercing shell flying through the T-55's turret, killing it's gunner and loader and detonating the ammo rack setting off a massive internal explosion that ripped the T-55's turret off and sent it flying through the air and crashing down onto a Roman soldier's foxhole, crushing him alive

"HIT! ENEMY PANZER IS KAPUT!" The Gunner shouted as Loader opened the breech, ejecting the empty shell casing onto the floor of the crew compartment while he grabbed another armor piercing shell from the ammo rack and started loading it into the gun breech before closing it

"GUN LOADED!" The Loader screamed as Manfred looked for another target while the driver continued onward at half-speed while the air marines and Isotxian mechanized infantry began to clear out the Roman positions as another _Adams_-class airship landed and deployed more Isotxian armored vehicles and infantry

"I think our job here is already done!" Manfred shouted over the radio

"Not quite, form a defensive perimeter around the LZ!" Erwin replied over the radio, "I got the feeling that Blackwater and the Romans are not going to let us deploy in peace!"

"Roger that!" Manfred shouted, "Why aren't you out here anyway? I thought you didn't like being locked in a HQ?!"

"I don't, but unfortunately my Ripper tank is in the freaking workshop back home thanks to that fucking T-72 that rammed it back in Europe." Erwin replied

"Oh yeah." Manfred said as another _Adams_-class Airship landed and opened its vehicle bay doors allowing the four FV-004 "Smurfbitzkit" super-heavy tanks inside to roll out

One of the largest vehicles in Isotxian service, the FV-004 "Smurfbitzkit" super-heavy tank was designed to be a breakthrough vehicle using its powerful 240mm rifled tank gun, coaxial rifled auto-loading 90mm, and the 380mm rocket launcher mounted on the front of its hull next to the driver compartment to destroy fortifications and create a breach in enemy defenses that faster tanks like the Yarden, Chadaface, Mandarax, and Ripper along with their supporting mechanized infantry could exploit while defensively, the Smurfbitzkit was used as a mobile bunker due to its think Isotxian steel armor which rivaled that of a light cruiser, making it a hard target to destroy for all except the largest of anti-armor weapons

"Get everything deployed and roll out, we need to take the bridge before Blackwaters and the Romans can withdraw all their forces from the other side and blow it up!" Erwin shouted

"What about the paratroopers, aren't we supposed to link up with them first?" Asked Harrison Schnitter, the youngest Schnitter brother-

"We will, but taking that bridge intact is still our primary objective!" He replied

**Somewhere near the Oddesund Bridge **

**Isotxian 8****th**** Airborne Division **

Isotxian paratrooper and the only son of the Isotxian Foreign Minister, Joseph Korensky, Corporal Richard Korensky had been knocked unconscious when the plane carrying him and his unit was shot down by anti-air fire and crashed on the end of a flooded field where he regain consciousness inside the crashed aircraft with the stern face of an Isotxian Commando staring down at him while the sounds of distant and near warfare echoed across the landscape

"Finally decided to rejoin the war corporal?" The Commando asked Korensky with his Celtic Accent as he helped him up off the floor of the crashed transport plane, "Looks like you took a bit of a bump there. Are you okay?"

"I think I'm fine sir." Korensky replied as he rubbed the back of his head while the Commando grabbed a M48 Assault Rifle, the basic assault rifle of the Isotxian Air Marines, Commandos, and Airborne divisions

"Here you're going to be needing this then." The Commando said as he shoved the M48 Rifle into Korensky's hands

"Where's the rest of my unit?" Korensky asked the Commando

"We don't know, but it appears you're the only one left." He replied as another Commando came into the crashed plane

"Everybody is all ready to move out sir!" The Other Commando said to the Commando, who nodded

"Well I guess you're with us…" The Commando said to Korensky

"Corporal Richard Korensky, 8th Airborne Division." He replied

"Korensky, aren't you the son of the foreign minister?" The Commando asked him

Korensky nodded

"I served alongside your dad before he lost his legs, he was a good soldier. My name is Captain Jack Ferguson, but most people just call me Fergus." He said to him

"I think he said something about you to me once." Richard replied as he checked how much ammo was still inside the mag he had in his M48

"Well let's get moving before those damn flying reptiles find us." Fergus said to him before he, Korensky, and the Other Commando exited the wrecked plane where the rest of Fergus' commandos along with a few other Isotxian paratroopers were waiting

"What are you talking about?! What do you mean by flying reptiles?!" Korensky asked him

"Those damn dragons the Romans have! They've been picking us off like damn flies, but the strange part is that they're trying to not kill us when they do it, they just grab you and fly off, taking you to who knows where and doing who knows what when they get there!" He replied, "I wouldn't be surprised if they nabbed your entire unit while you were knocked out!"

"Dragons?! Our intel said nothing about fucking dragons!" Korensky said to him

"Well believe it or not they exist here and they're hunting us like we're some kind of prey." Fergus replied, "So unless you want to find out where they're taking all of our guys, I suggest you come with us!"

Korensky nodded and followed Fergus and his men into the neighboring field

"So Korensky, why did you join the airborne?" A Commando asked Richard, who shrugged

"I guess it had to do something about having to jump out of perfectly good airplanes to kill bad guys, but invading other worlds wasn't exactly what I signed up for." He replied

"None of us signed up for that." Another Commando said to him

"Get down and stay still!" Fergus shouted as he and the other Isotxians ducked before several dragons wearing armor flew over the field

"Those aren't the dragons we saw earlier, their armor was different!" One of the Commandos shouted

"Who cares?! Let's get out of here before we find out whenever or not they saw us!" Fergus replied before he led the paratroopers and commandos across the rest of the field to the hedgerows on the neighboring side

"Sir, the 3rd Armored Division should be making landfall right about now, maybe we should try linking up with them?" An Isotxian Paratrooper said to Fergus

"Good idea, we'll need their firepower to deal with all these dragons!" He replied

"If they haven't been wiped out by them." Another Commando said

"Let's hope that they haven't because otherwise this entire mission is dead in the water!" Fergus replied

"Where the hell are our airships and fighters?! Aren't they supposed to be keeping the skies clear?!" Korensky asked

"They are, but Blackwater's anti-aircraft guns are so damn good that they're blasting all of our planes out of the air like nothing!" Fergus replied, "And our airships are more concerned about the Coalition's airship fleet even though it isn't doing jack shit to us right now!"

Everybody went quiet as a dragon roared in the distance followed by distant gunfire and an explosion

"Okay if you're all wanting to get out of this shitfest alive then you better stick with me until we can link up with the tanks!." Fergus said, "Now who's going to be on point?!"

Everybody remained silent

"Anybody?!" Fergus asked, "Alright then since nobody is going to volunteer…you're on point Mr. Korensky!"

"What?!" Korensky asked

"You heard me! Just dash across the road to that other hedgerow, so that way if you get shot we know not to go that way." Fergus replied

Korensky sighed

"I swear if I get grabbed by a damn dragon…" He said before he stuck his head out of the hedgerow and looked both ways down the road before dashing as fast as he could across the dirt road separating the two rows of hedgegrows without having a single shot fired at him before he slid into the opposite hedgerow and checked the field on the other side for signs of Blackwater or Roman activity before waving to Fergus and the others to come across

"Any signs of movement?" Fergus asked him as he crouched down next to him

"I can't see anything from here." Korensky replied when the rumbling on a tank engine began to echo from across the field

"Is that one of ours?" A Paratrooper asked

"No, sounds like it's a T-62." Fergus replied

"T-62? What are the Imperia-? " Korensky asked him before he answered

"The Romans are using some of their equipment, but as far as we know they have connections." Fergus replied, "Sounds like its heading east."

"How do you know?!" Korensky asked him

"I know trust me." He replied as voices talking in Latin started to come from the field

"Roman infantry! Stay quiet and hold your fire, we don't want to attract the attention of their dragons with a firefight!" Fergus whispered as a Roman Praetorian Guard patrol cross the field

"It's strange to being fighting Romans, it's been like over a 100 years since the North Republic conquered them?" A Paratrooper said

"Beats me, but these Romans are not the ones the North Republic conquered that's for sure." Fergus replied as a Roman Praetorian Guardsmen appeared just outside the hedge as he smoked a cigarette

"Oh shit…" Korensky thought to himself as he and everybody else remained silent while a Blackwater patrol also appeared in the field

"Do you see anything?!" One of the Blackwater Troopers asked

"Not a damn thing!" Another Trooper replied, "What about you?!"

"Nothing over here!" The Praetorian Guardsman shouted as he unknowingly flicked his cigarette onto Fergus, who remained quiet as the Guardsman started to walk away

"Hey what-OH SHIT INCOMING!" A Blackwater Trooper shouted as he, the other Blackwater troopers, and the Praetorian Guardsmen rushed to get out of the way as an Isotxian heavy glider crash landed in the field

"Son of a bitch…" Fergus said quietly as the Blackwater troopers and Praetorian Guardsmen began to surround the heavy glider, "Okay screw what I said earlier, we can't let them get to whoever is inside that glider!"

"Sir what-?!" A Commando asked

"I know what I said! But those are our guys in there!" Fergus replied, "Hanz! Deniel! Get your bazooka ready to fire!"

"Yes sir!" An Isotxian Commando replied as he started to help another Commando load a rocket into his M84 83mm Bazooka Mark VIII

"Everybody get into position and prepare to engage! Aim for the Blackwater twats first!" Fergus said when something to started to rumble inside the heavy glider as the front end of it began to open

"What the hell are they doing?!" Korensky thought to himself before a FV-009 "Tiny Tim" light tank rolled out from the glider and began to engage the Blackwater troopers and Praetorian Guardsmen with its main gun and coaxial machine gun

Designed to be landed by parachute or glider, the FV-009 "Tiny Tim" light tank gave Isotxian paratrooper divisions a highly mobile, but lightly armored support vehicle usually armed with a autoloading 90mm that was mounted in an oscillating turret and a coaxial 7.62mm machine although other variants carried everything from flamethrowers, autocannons, or light artillery guns. But unfortunately its 90mm was inadequate when it comes to dealing with modern medium and heavy tanks, so it was primarily an infantry support vehicle.

"Come on lads and lasses, let's show these twats what we can do!" Fergus shouted before him, Richard, and the other Isotxian paratroopers and commandos started to fire at the Blackwater troopers and Roman Praetorian Guardsmen in the field as a second Tiny Tim, armed with flamethrower, rolled out from the glider with a small squad of paratroopers before the T-62 crashed through the hedgerow on the opposite side of the field with two more squads or Praetorian Guardsmen followed behind

"Oh shite!" An Isotxian Paratrooper shouted

"Hanz! Take out that tank!" Fergus shouted as the Paratrooper with the Bazooka rushed forward and took aim at the T-62

"Clear back blast!" The Paratrooper shouted before he fired the bazooka and struck the T-62's frontal upper glacial plate frontally, penetrating it and disabling the tank

"Good work Hanz!" Fergus shouted as the Paratrooper retreated back into the hedgerow so his assistant could help him reload the launcher while Korensky and the others did their best to keep the Blackwater troopers and Praetorian Guardsmen in the field suppressed when an FV-003 "Mandarax" heavy-medium tank from the 3rd Armored Division smashed it's onto the field through a hedgerow and immediately began firing it's coaxial machine gun

The FV-003 "General Mandarax" heavy-medium tank was another relatively new addition to the ISDF's tank fleet designed to bridge the gap between the Chadaface and Ripper tanks with its 120mm rifled main gun that could handle its own against most of the heavy and medium tanks fielded by the Eastern Imperial Military while it's secondary armament was a coaxial 7.62mm machine gun and a hatch-mounted 12.7mm machine gun while it's Isotxian steel armor allowed it take a decent amount of punishment

"HAHA NOW WE'RE TALKING!" An Isotxian Commando shouted as the Mandarax fired its main gun and knocked out a Blackwater tank as it smashed through a hedgerow on the other side of the field while its commander unbuttoned her hatch so she could man the hatch-mounted machine gun and began firing it at the Blackwater and Roman infantry

"For the Republic!" The Mandarax Commander shouted in Gallic as he fired the machine gun before her tank was struck by a blue fireball that came from the skies which forced her to retreat back into her tank and button up her hatch as a large Roman dragon landed in the field before coating itself in flames

"DRAGONS!" Korensky shouted as more dragons began to land in the field while the Mandarax took another hit from a fireball that knocked out its right track and immobilized it

"Just when I thought things were finally starting to look up for us!" Fergus shouted as the flaming dragon tipped over one of the Tiny Tims as small arms fires bounced or ricocheted off its armor, "Hanz! Hurry up with that damn bazooka!"

"We're working on it Captain!" The Paratrooper shouted as the flaming dragon turned its attention toward the Isotxians in the hedgerow as the other Tiny Tim was knocked by a Roman soldier with an RPG

"Oh son a bitch!" Fergus shouted, "FOCUS ALL YOUR DAMN FIRE ON THAT BIG FUCKING DRAGON BEFORE IT ROASTS US ALIVE!"

Then suddenly a Ripper tank smashed its way through the hedgerow next to the disabled Mandarax and stopped before firing its main gun at the flaming dragon, easily penetrating its armor while the shell flew out of the other side of the dragon, killing it while more Isotxian tanks and other armored vehicles started to smash their way through the hedgegrows as more Blackwater and Roman tanks did the same on the opposite side of the field while the dragons quickly withdrew back into the skies as both sides started to exchange fire

"Well this escalated quickly!" Fergus shouted as they were joined by a group of Isotxian mechanized infantrymen

"Where the hell have you blokes been?!" A Commando said to the Mechanized Infantrymen

"Busy! The Romans didn't make it easy for us to break out from our LZ!" One of them replied

"Well we're glad you guys are here now!" Fergus said as a Roman tank erupted into flames after being knocked out by a Ripper

"I swear this guys are worse than the Eastern Empire, they never fucking give up!" One of the Mechanized Infantry shouted

"So what are you guys doing here with us?!" Korensky asked them

"Just wanted to make sure you guys were okay and still here, we know that those damn dragons have been flying around and nabbing our guys any chance they can get!" One of them replied

"You think we don't know that?!" Fergus said to them before a Chadaface was struck by another blue fireball as the Roman dragons returned, this time in full force

"TOLD YOU THEY NEVER GIVE UP!" One of the Mechanized Infantrymen shouted before one of the Roman dragons was blasted out of the sky by another blue fireball

"What the bloody hell is going on now?!" Fergus shouted as the Roman dragons were attacked by another group of armored dragons

"Oh frick, it's the Coalition's dragons!" One of the Mechanized Infantrymen shouted

**Task Force Therian **

**0630 Hours **

Catherine had her arms tightly wrapped around Barnes' neck as he dived down at a Roman post-human Gronckle and knocked it out of the sky with a fully-charged plasma blast while Wensky sunk his claws into the back of a Zippleback

"This is for taking away my daughter you two-headed freak!" Wensky shouted in anger over the radio before he grabbed a hold of one of the Zippleback's necks with his jaws and breaking it, killing the head attached to it before doing the same with the other head before releasing the Zippleback and letting it fall while Isotxian, Roman, and Blackwater forces continued to battle in the fields beneath them

"Am I the only who is enjoying the Isotxian on Blackwater and Roman violence?" Karlson asked over the radio

"I'm more worried that the Isotxians are going to start firing at us!" Barnes replied as Samantha and Margaret started to fly over an oblivious mind-controlled Deadly Nadder

"Remember take out the collar and he or she will be on our side!" Samantha said to Margaret telepathically

"I know! I know, we've only been over this umpteen several times!" She replied before she jumped onto the Deadly Nadder's back and ran toward the mind-control collar and stabbing it with her knife, disabling the collar and freeing the Deadly Nadder from its effects although it began to screech wildly in a dragonized version of Scandinavian Norse

"Uhhhh…you're welcome?" Margaret said to the Deadly Nadder, who looked up at her while one of the dragons liberated during the Archipelago Campaign started to fly alongside them and speak to the Deadly Nadder in his own language which made him stop screeching

"I got this from here Miss Reaper!" The Deadly Nadder said to Margaret, who nodded and waved to Samantha to pick her up while the two Nordic Deadly Nadders flew back to the USAS _Patton_ which was flying high above the battlefield using its electronic starfield camo to remain hidden

Meanwhile Barnes plasma blasted another Roman post-human dragon while he kept an eye out for General Aemilius Casca

"If he's still here I'm not seeing him Barnes!" Catherine said to him

Barnes snorted

"I wouldn't put it above him to retreat when he realizes that the odds are against him." He said to her telepathically, "But his men usually do too when he does."

"You think he's waiting for something?" She asked him

"Probably." He replied before Catherine was grabbed off his back by Casca, "MOM!"

Barnes shot off after Casca with Samantha and Margaret right behind them

**Isotxian 3****rd**** Armored Division **

Both Manfred and Harrison had their hatches unbuttoned as they watched the Coalition and Roman dragons battle it out in the skies over the battlefield with their binoculars

"Uhhhh shouldn't we be doing something?" Harrison asked Manfred

"Well I would order our AA vehicles to open fire on them, but some of those damned Roman dragons are still carrying our men!" He replied, "Contact our brother and see what he wants to do!"

"Okay." Harrison said before he receded back into his Ripper tank to its radio to contact Erwin

"Major General Erwin Schnitter the 31st, here rep-"Erwin said when Manfred reached him

"Erwin! We've got a situation over here!" Harrison shouted at him

"What is it Harrison?" Erwin asked him

"We've got dragons! LOTS of them and they're fighting each other to the death right over our heads!" He replied, "What do you want us to d-?"

Before Harrison could complete his sentence, the ground beneath his and Manfred's Ripper tanks suddenly collapsed as they fell into sink holes

"Harrison?! Harrison?! Manfred?! Are you guys there?! What was that noise?!" Erwin shouted over the radio as Harrison grabbed the transmitter

"We're fine, the ground beneath our tanks just suddenly collapsed and now we're stuck in these sink holes!" He replied before he looked to his side and saw the tunnel that both of the sinkholes were connected to, "There's also these tunnels here as well!"

"Tunnels?! What kind of tunnels?!" Erwin asked him

"I don't know, they look fresh though, so I think something may have just dug them out!" Manfred shouted over the radio, "I think it may be some kind of subterranean dra-"

Suddenly two dragons swept down out of the skies and grabbed both Manfred and Harrison out of their tanks before flying off

"Hello?! Manfred, Harrison?! What's going on over there?! Report?!" Erwin screamed over the radio when Manfred's gunner grabbed the radio

"I'm sorry General, but they're gun, two fucking dragons just took off with them!" The Gunner shouted at Erwin

"What?! Whose dragons was it?!" He replied

"I couldn't tell, we didn't get a good enough look at it! But I'm guessing it was Roman since they're the ones grabbing our men!" The Gunner said, "What do you want us to do?!"

Erwin took a deep breath before sighing

"Hold your positions, we'll get somebody out to you as soon as possible!" He said to them, "Also button up the damn tanks!"

"Yes sir!" The Gunner replied before he buttoned up the commander's hatch

"Somebody is going to be catching hell for this!" The Loader said to the Gunner, who nodded

**Task Force Therian **

Barnes, Samantha, and Margaret were chasing after Casca as he tried to fly away with Catherine

"How is he flying so fast?!" Samantha shouted to Barnes telepathically

"I have no idea, but I'm guessing Gene Corp might be giving him steroids or genetically enhanced his wing muscles!" He replied as he contacted the captain of the _Patton_, Franklin Bowman, "Captain Bowman, I and Samantha are in pursuit of a high-value target and need assistance!"

"Roger that General Barnes, we're redirecting squadrons to intercept the HVT!" Bowman replied

"We're going to get this bastard this time!" Barnes said to Samantha telepathically

"How are we going to do that and save your mom at the same time?" She asked him

"You let me worry about that!" He replied

"Uhhhh Barnes…WHAT IS THAT?!" Margaret screamed as a large four-winged dragon and its rider, a tall woman wearing primitive armor and mask carrying a staff popped out of the clouds in front of Casca

"STORMCUTTER!" Barnes shouted as Casca dove down beneath the dragon while Barnes and Samantha engaged their cloaking devices as they flew past the dragon and its rider, who were both looking around confused

"Who was that?!" Samantha asked Barnes

"I have no idea!" He replied, "But whoever it was, I think Casca knew her because he seemed rather quick to avoid her and her dragon! Speaking about that child-stealing bastard, where did he go?!"

"I don't have a visual!" Samantha said

"Me neither!" Barnes replied as two squadrons of APMSF F-45s flew over them

Barnes started to curse

"We lost them…did we?" Margaret asked him

"GOD DAMMIT." He replied in dragonese "When I get my claws on that son of a bitch, I'm going to tear him to fucking shreds!"

While Barnes and Margaret were cursing, Samantha was looking back trying to spot the Stormcutter and its rider, but saw no sign of them

"Looks like the rider and her dragon are gone too!" Samantha said

"If it wasn't for them, we would've probably caught up to him!" Barnes replied

"Well at least she's going to be with your dad." Margaret said to him

Barnes snorted angrily as he contacted Bowman

"_Patton_, its Barnes, we've lost visual contact on the HVT, we think he might have gotten away."

"Roger that, recalling the F-45s, also Karlson is saying that he has a bit of the situation with the Isotxians." Bowman replied

Barnes sighed

"Patch me through to him." He said

"Barnes! Some fucking Isotxian Officer is shooting flares and yelling at us!" Karlson shouted to him over the radio, "I think he wants to talk to us!"

"Okay hold on, I'm on my way!" Barnes replied

"Is something wrong? Where's Catherine?!" Karlson asked him

"She's gone…Casca got her, we would have caught them too if that wasn't for that damn Stormcutter and its rider!" He replied

"WHAT?! And you saw a Stormcutter?!" Karlson asked him, "Was it Henderson?!"

"No, this one had brighter colors than he did and plus I didn't see any kind of mind-control collar or for that matter a saddle." He replied

"Let's talk about this more when get back to the _Patton_ after we see what this damn Iso wants!" Karlson shouted, "WOULD YOU STOP FIRING THOSE DAMN FLARES AT ME BEFORE I COME DOWN THERE AND BURN YOUR ASS OFF YOU LITTLE SH-"

Barnes sighed as he cut the transmission off

"Come on guys…we need to get back with the others." He said to Samantha and Margaret before they both turned around


	13. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Forged Alliance

**Oddesund Bridge; Danish Rift Zone **

**Isotxian 3****rd**** Armored Division **

**March 22****nd****, 2011 - 0720 Hours **

With the Oddesund Bridge now secured and the remaining Roman and Blackwater forces in full retreat, Erwin was shooting flares up at the Coalition dragon while shouting at them, trying to get their attention as they flew in circles above him and Julie while one of the larger dragons shouted at him with its collar, although they could barely hear or understand it due to the distance

"ERWIN ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?!" Julie screamed at him as he loaded another signal flare into his flare gun

"If anybody is going to help us get our brothers back it's going to be them!" Erwin replied as he closed up the flare gun before pointing it up at them while a DS-89 Turboprop drop ship landed behind them

"Uh oh…" Margaret said quietly when she saw the commander of the Isotxian Home Army, Field Marshal Reed October walking out of the drop ship

"GENERAL SCHNITTER, WHAT IN ISOTX'S NAME ARE YOU DOING?!" The Field Marshal shouted at Erwin

"The fucking Romans took my brothers!" He replied before he fired the flare gun into the air

"Is this true?!" October asked Julie, who nodded

"Yes sir and he thinks the Coalition might be able to help us…for some reason he's yet to tell me." She replied, "He tends to get emotional when one of us gets attacked like this."

"I can see that…Erwin stop firing those damn flares before you piss that one dragon off!" October shouted at Erwin

"Too late for that…" Julie replied as the large dragon landed in front of them, knocking Erwin down and making him drop the flare gun

"You got my attention! Now what do you want?!" The Dragon asked Erwin with his collar

"My brothers! The fucking Romans took off with them!" He replied

"Well they took my daughter away and almost killed my son, so join the club!" The Dragon said to him

"Well at least we understand each other then!" He replied as the nearby Isotxian soldiers and tanks aimed their weapons at the dragon while the other Coalition dragons landed behind him

"HOLD YOUR FIRE, I think he might be onto something here!" October shouted

Erwin stood up and looked directly into the dragon's eyes

"Look I don't care who or what you are, but I think if any either of us are going to defeat the Romans, Blackwater, and whoever the fuck Gene Corp is, we're going have to work together." He said to the dragon

"What makes you think we need your help?! We were doing just fine until you Isotxians showed up with your fucking airships and started shooting at us!" The Dragon replied

"Hey we thought you or Gene Corp was going to attack us, so we struck first!" Erwin said to him, "Ever heard of a preemptive strike before?!"

The Dragon rolled his eyes

"That's what I thought it was…" He said to himself

"Who and what are you?!" Field Marshal Reed October asked the dragon

"General Charles Karlson." He replied

"Major General Erwin Schnitter the 31st." Erwin said to him, "What do you mean they took away your daughter?"

"They fucking kidnapped her! What else could I possibly mean?!" Karlson roared at Erwin inside his heads

"How are you talking to me in my head?!" Erwin asked him

Karlson snorted

"It's called telepathy, all dragons including the post-human ones like me can do it." He said to him, the Field Marshal, and Julie with his collar

"Post-human?" Julie asked him, "Wait…does this all have to do with those rumors about Gene Corp?!"

"Rumors?! Rumors?! Does this look like a rumor to you lady?!" Karlson shouted at her as he motioned to himself, "We all…well most of us used to be like you until Gene Corp came along and fucked everything up with their genetic experiments!"

Two other dragons, one of them with a rider landed behind Karlson

"Karlson?! What the hell are you doing?!" One of the Dragons shouted at Karlson

"Your mom isn't the only that got kidnapped today Barnes." He replied, "This is Major General Erwin Schnitter the 31st, he's saying that the Romans took his brothers as well."

Barnes walked over to Erwin

"Wait if you guys were all turned into dragons by Gene Corp with their 'genetic' experiments, then does that mean they're going to turn our brothers into dragons too along with the others they captured?!" Field Marshal October asked Karlson and Barnes

"Likely unless they tend to use them for other purposes, like bribing you guys to work with them." Karlson replied

"We would never work with anybody like Gene Corp!" October shouted, "But maybe we can work together…I am Field Marshal Reed October, the commander of the Isotxian Home Army and the leader of this entire operation."

"General Barnes, commander of Task Force Therian." Barnes replied

"Barnes maybe we should clear this with General Smict before we go off and make an alliance with these people because weren't just shooting at us about an hour ago?" Karlson said to Barnes telepathically

"You're right." He replied

"Well unfortunately we don't have the authority to make any diplomatic outreaches right now, so we're going to clear this with our superiors." Barnes said to October

"You got to be kidding me…" Erwin replied

"Who's your superior?" Reed asked him

"General Earl Smict…my grandfather and he and his own superiors may not be too hot with this, even considering the circumstances." He replied

Reed sighed

"Maybe we can offer something in return for all the damage we caused…didn't we capture a Blackwater General who keeps blabbering on about some guy named Reaper they have frozen up in Gene Corp's HQ or something?" Julie asked him

"WHAT?!" Karlson asked her

"You know him?" Reed asked him

"Know him? He's my dad!" Barnes replied, "Do you know the location of their headquarters?!"

"Yeah he keeps saying it's in the Alps and that he'll lead us to it if we promise to give him a pardon." Reed said, "That is where they might have taken our men, his brothers, along with your mother."

"What do they mean by frozen up?" Margaret asked them

Reed shrugged

"Maybe have in a cell or something, who knows." He said

"Hey Fishlegs what was that species of dragon that could survive being frozen for so long?!" Barnes shouted to the Dragon Riders with his translation collar

"The Skrill!" He replied

"Wait wait…so are you saying that turned our dad into one these 'Skrill' dragons so they could freeze him?!" Margaret asked Barnes

"Yeah, that's what it sounds like since the last time I checked nobody has perfected freezing people for long periods of time and keeping them alive without any permanent damage." He replied

"Yeah I believe he also that Gene Corps leader, Cameron Yates or something like that, considered him to be his most prized possession and we thought he meant as a slave." Reed said to him

"He's probably keeping him in his office then as some kind of decoration." Karlson replied, "Which mean it isn't going to be easy to get him out."

"So does this mean they're going turn my mom into another Skrill and freeze her too?" Margaret asked

"Judging about what we know about Mr. Yates…yes." Barnes replied

"Where are you keeping this Blackwater General again?!" Margaret asked Reed

"We sent him to our dimension along with two other high-ranking Blackwater Officers we've captured where they be should safely tucked away in a cell inside a local jail." He replied, "But we're not having him over until we're sure that we're allies or not because how do we know if this Reaper person isn't only going to be trouble for us if we help you free him? In fact how do we even know if you won't backstab after we help you find them?!"

"These Isotxians defiantly aren't stupid, but I don't know about you, but I think we might be able to trust them." Karlson said to Barnes telepathically, "Plus the last thing we need is a second enemy, an enemy that has airships and who knows what else."

"Why are we fucking debating this?!" Margaret shouted, "Just contact Grandpa Smict or somebody else and see if we're willing to make the deal or not!"

**Cape Girardeau, Missouri – Coalition Verse **

**APM Command Bunker**

**0845 Hours **

President of the United States and head of the Americans' People Party (APP), Paxton Fettle was reviewing a document detailing the recent events in the Roman Rift Zone when director of the CIA, Luke Twones entered his office

"Mr. Twones, can you please look outside and tell me that there aren't pigs flying around out there or something?!" Paxton asked him, "Or do I really have a meeting with former President Emmonds and the Coalition leaders in a few hours?!"

"I checked myself and no there are no flying pigs and I can't believe it myself either." He replied, "But you may want to the Isotxians to that list."

"I thought they were hostile?" Paxton asked him

"They were until about a few minutes ago, they're wanting to make a deal in exchange for a cease fire." He replied

"What are they giving us or what do we have to give them?" Paxton asked him

"They claim to have captured a high-ranking Blackwater General who knows where they're keeping Reaper." He replied

Paxton placed the document he had been reading down onto his deck

"And why are they doing this?" He asked him

"Because Gene Corp has captured a rather large number of them including the two sons of a very high-ranking officer of their own along with Catherine Reaper…" He replied

"Really?! She got captured already?!" Paxton asked him, "And let me guess it was our friend Casca again?"

"Yeah…" He replied, "But General Karlson for some reason believes that we can trust the Isotxians although General Smict isn't so sure, but he does say that the Isotxians do seem to be serious about making this deal."

"Who is making this deal on their side?" Paxton asked him

"The commander of their forces in Denmark, Field Marshal Reed October, who claims to have been given authority by his superiors to make negotiations." He replied, "He also says that the Isotxians which to avoid a long-term war due to other commitments they have in their world."

"Are they at war with somebody else or something?" Paxton asked him

"They're not saying, but a few of the Isotxians we've captured keep mentioning an ongoing world war with a nation known as the 'Eastern Empire', but we don't know much about them yet, in fact we don't know anything about them." He replied, "Hell we still know very little about the Isotxians."

"Great…more assholes we'll probably have to deal with later." Paxton said to himself, "Have we gotten any official word from the Isotxian Government, do they even have one?"

"Of course they have a government, but no we haven't heard anything about from it besides that the fact that's it apparently a republic with a two-house parliament and Prime Minister, who is both the head of parliament and the head of state." He replied

"What do you think we should do? Because there is always that chance that the Isotxians mean well, but their contact doesn't." Paxton asked Twones

"I think it's worth the chance, plus even if the contact is wrong, a peace with the Isotxians will prevent a potentially devastating and long-lasting two front war while creating a third front for Gene Corp." He replied, "Not to mention the possible economic benefits from having a major trade partner after the end of the war."

"Yeah if we don't get pulled into their other war first, so what do these Isotxians want to do after we agree to their exchange?" Paxton asked him

"One of their officers have developed a rather interesting plan, but it has a bit of a catch." He replied

"What is it?" Paxton asked

"They want to trick Gene Corp to make them believe that they're going to be their friend by using a hostage they supposedly 'captured' from us to give them more leverage and they're hoping that Gene Corp will let get into their headquarters so they can confirm the intel they get from the general." Twones replied

"That's rather risky…but I guess it's better than launching a full-scale assault on the facility and then finding out Reaper, Catherine, and the Isotxians they captured aren't there." Paxton said, "So who's going to be the hostage?"

"Actually it's two hostages, Margaret Reaper and Barnes."

"WHAT?!" Paxton asked

"They volunteered, plus Calvin Karlson will be with them disguised as an Isotxian Soldier along with a few Alfa Squads." Twones replied

"I'm guessing that he's hoping that he will be able to get his sister and girlfriend back from this?" Paxton asked him

"More than likely and he's made the Isotxian Officer who developed this plan, Major General Erwin Schnitter the 31st, promise him that he'll try to do it." He replied

"I really hope he isn't disappointed if it doesn't work." Paxton said, "Tell the Isotxians we accept the exchange."

Twones nodded

**USAS **_**Patton**_ – **Cargo Bay; Over the Jutland Bank**

**Task Force Therian **

**1021 Hours **

Calvin was inside the cargo bay as he straightened out his Isotxian uniform while his parents, Erwin, and Julie watched him

"Do I look convincing enough to you?" Calvin asked them

"Perfect, but that transformation device of yours will give you away." Erwin replied

Calvin nodded and pulled down his sleeve to cover the device

"Is that good enough?" He asked him

Erwin nodded

"If you were a bit taller, you look like the average joe…at least our dimension's version of an average joe." He said, "But luckily for us Gene Corp doesn't know that, at least we hope they don't!"

"So when are we meeting the Gene Corp envoy?" Calvin asked him

"Midnight." Erwin replied when Barnes poked his head into the cargo bay

"There you guys are." He said to them as he and Margaret walked in, "So Calvin how is it being an Isotxian?"

"This uniform itches…" Calvin said to him when an Isotxian Commando walked in after Barnes and Margaret carrying two FN FAL rifles, one slung around his shoulder and the other in his hand

"You'll get used to it." Fergus replied as he walked into the cargo, "I'm Captain Jack Ferguson, 87th Commando Regiment. You'll be with us during the mission."

Calvin nodded

"So am I going to get a gun?" Calvin asked him

"Of course you will! Wouldn't be a soldier without one!" He replied as he threw the rifle he had in his hand to Calvin

"Is this an FN FAL?! I've only heard of these!" Calvin asked Fergus

"If that's what your people call it, then I guess so. But we call it the M48 Assault Rifle." He replied, "It's the standard battle rifle for our commandos, paratroopers, and air marines."

"Air Marines?" Karlson asked him with his translation collar

"They're like regular Marines, but they're with the airships." Erwin replied

"Hmmm we just use regular infantry." Karlson said as Calvin removed the clip from his M48 to see the rounds inside it

"Are these 5.56mms? I thought these rifles fired 7.62mms?" Calvin asked Fergus

"They used to when they were first built, but when the Federal Republic was formed, they started modifying them to fire the 5.56mm to keep them up to date." He replied

"I see." Calvin said as he put the clip back into the M48 before he slung it over his shoulder, "Thank you Captain Ferguson."

"Please lad, just call me Fergus!" Fergus replied, "So you can turn into a dragon?"

"Yep." Calvin said

"Hmmm that might be useful if we need to make a quick escape." Fergus said to him

Calvin nodded

"Not really that fond of being a fake prisoner, but it's for my mom and dad, so whatever." Margaret said, "But then again that Blackwater General could be pulling our leg and we'll probably all end up dead."

"Let's hope that doesn't happen…Margaret is it?" Erwin replied

Margaret nodded

"Don't get any ideas soldier boy." She said to him

"I'm not…" He replied

**Gene Corp HQ; The Alps **

**1423 Hours **

Catherine regained consciousness in the center of a large chamber and quickly realized that she was unable to move her arms or legs while a large dragon with two legs that were chained to the ground and two large clawed wings that were stretched out to their full length and were secured in place by four rubber-coated harnesses that were connected to the ceiling and floor of the chamber by large chains while a rubber-coated reinforced muzzle was tightly secure on its snout preventing it from breathing fire or from speaking. And it didn't take long for Catherine realize what had happened to her

"Reaper?" She said to the dragon telepathically, since her muzzle prevented her from speaking

The dragon looked up at her

"Catherine?" The Dragon asked her telepathically in an all too familiar voice, "That's really you isn't it?! I thought all that stuff about you being back from another dimension was just a bunch of bullshit…and I can see we're now both in the same situation."

"Seems that way too." She replied as she looked at her wings and almost sighed in relief when she was released she was the same species as he was when she saw that she too now had the same claw-tipped wings

"Gene Corp defiantly outdid themselves this time, I can barely move. What about you? " Reaper said to her

"Same here." She replied, "Why is it so cold in here?"

"Cold?! Please, I've been frozen solid inside a room-sized fridge next to Yate's office, so this doesn't even fucking bother me." Reaper said to her, "And I bet they're probably going to freeze me again…this time with you."

"On second thought it isn't that bad in here." She replied, "Even as a dragon you're still taller than me."

"That's because you're a female, female dragons are almost always smaller than the ma-" Reaper said to her

"I know…" She replied, "So what species are we?"

"Skrills according to one of the scientists I heard before I was frozen." Reaper said, "So basically we're only one step behind Night Furies and we can apparently shoot lighting out of our mouths, but I haven't gotten the chance to do that because well, I've been frozen for the past…uhhhh."

"Eleven months." She said to him

"It's really been that long?" He replied, "How is everybody holding up?"

"Barnes and all they are fine…except for Calvin, he's been doing whatever he can to find you and the others and speaking of which…" She said

"I don't know exactly where they are, if that's what you're going to ask." Reaper said to her

"What do you mean by exactly?" She replied

"They're being held in a prison up in Scandinavia, but where, I don't know." Reaper said

"How do you know all this?" Catherine asked him

"While I was frozen next to his office, I heard almost every one of Yates' meetings with his lackeys, so I know a lot about their operations here now." He replied

"Still like to eavesdrop I see…" Catherine said to him

"It's part of my job and I didn't have anything else to do besides fantasying about biting off Yates' face." He replied as Catherine noticed the colorful patterns on his wings

"Your wings are beautiful." She said to him which made him look at them himself

"I'm guessing those are for mating or something." He replied

"Like a peacock and its tail?" Catherine asked him

"Yeah I guess so." He replied

"Well then they're working." She said to him

"So what has been Calvin doing to save me anyway?" He asked her

"Not a lot the last time I saw him, mainly because he was in his human form." She replied

"Human form?! He can turn human now?!" Reaper asked her

"Yeah and people stare at him for it, which really agitates him and his parents." She replied, "You're not mad at him are you? Because I swear if you hu-"

"I am not going to do anything to Calvin, why you or he even think I would?!" Reaper asked her, "Why does everybody think I'm the guy that kills anybody that even slightly pisses me off?!

"Because you do have tendency to get rather violent when you're pissed off." She replied

"And you're a kettle calling a pot black." Reaper said

"Yeah I have to admit I'm not much better either." She said to him

"So what happened to your dimension's version of me?" He asked her

"He died…and so did my version of my Barnes, but I don't want to talk about that right now." She replied

Reaper nodded as he tried to move his wings

"Man I wish I could hold you with these right now." He said to Catherine

"Certainly wouldn't mind the warmth." She thought to herself

"So you're both finally awake?!" A Voice shouted as Yates, who was wearing a heavy coat, and two armed Gene Corp Security Guards watched Catherine and Reaper from the catwalk that went around the entire chamber, "So Mrs. Reaper how are you enjoying the few 'adjustments' we've made to your body?"

Catherine snorted

"What about you come down here and take this muzzle off me so you'll find out?" She asked him telepathically

"Interesting offer, but I'm afraid I'm going have to turn you down on that one." He replied, "And Mr. President, well Mr. Former President, I hope we didn't cause you too much discomfort freezing you and all!"

Reaper released a quiet growl

"Fuck off you capitalist son of a bitch!" He said to Yates telepathically

"Capitalist?!" Yates shouted with a laugh, "Never heard anybody call me that one before! But I guess I should've expected that response from you APP type and I prefer the term 'entrepreneur'."

"Don't you have to be selling something to be an entrepreneur?" One of the Security Guards asked him

"Oh shut up…and no you don't have to sell something to be an entrepreneur, you have to innovate something to sell." He replied

"Innovate?! Is that really what you call what you're doing here?!" Catherine shouted at him telepathically, "All I've seen is you turning innocent people into dragons and using them as weapons against their own will! That isn't fucking innovation, that's a god damn atrocity!"

"Call it what you want to Mrs. Reaper, but what we're doing here in Gene Corp is the future." He replied

"And what kind of future is that?!" Reaper asked him telepathically

Yates shrugged

"I don't know, only time will tell after we finally this war." He said to him, "And once we manage to coax the Isotxians into helping us, we'll stand much more of a better chance against your friends."

"And why do you think these 'Isotxians' will want to help you?!" Reaper asked him

"They've been using Casca and his men to capture a whole bunch of them, they're probably using them as bargaining chips to get a cease fire." Catherine said to him telepathically

"Because we have something they want." Yates said to them, "Now if you mind, I have a negotiation to attend to in a few hours."

Yates and his Guards left the chamber

"I really hope Barnes and his guys have a plan." Reaper said to Catherine

"I hope so too." She replied

**Hangar Bay - IAS **_**Devastation **_**– **_**Annihilation**_**-class Flying Battleship; In Route to Gene Corp HQ **

**Task Force Therian and Isotxian Strike Force **

**1632 Hours **

Barnes was fully "restrained" by the Isotxians as Erwin looked at his pocket watch to check the time

"We should be at Gene Corp's HQ in six hours." Erwin said to Barnes, "Are you sure you want to go through with this General?"

Barnes snorted

"If it gets my mom and dad back, then yes." He said to Erwin telepathically, "Where's my sister?"

"She's in the mess hall stuffing her mouth, that woman has a god damn stomach." He replied, "But man she is beautiful though."

"Stay away from my sister…" Barnes said to him

"I will, she's probably not my type anyway." Erwin replied

"So what happens if something goes wrong?" Barnes asked him

"You let me worry about." He replied

"So besides your brothers and sister, what other family do you have?" Barnes asked him

"My mom and dad." He replied

"What are their names?" Barnes asked him

"Maria and Field Marshal Erwin Schnitter the 30th." He replied, "My mom usually states at home while my dad commands Army Group Alpha."

"Army Group Alpha?" Barnes asked

"The largest fighting organization in the Isotxian Military, but that hasn't stopped it from being bogged down in Central Europe for the past seven years." Erwin replied, "Before all this happened, I was stationed over there as well as part of General George Chadaface's 3rd Army involved in the fighting around Neubrandenburg and to tell you the truth I was almost Isotx damn relieved to be pulled out of there."

"But you didn't see this coming, did you?" Barnes asked him

Erwin shook his head

"I was expecting a long fight, but nothing like this." He said

"So how did this whole thing between you and the Eastern Empire start?" Barnes asked him

"The Eastern Empire did in 1920 when they attacked Southern Slavia, even if most historians say that's a separate war like they do with the First World War." He replied

"1920?! You guys have been at it for over ninety-one years!" Barnes said to him

"Yep and it's still going on strong." He replied, "But there were moments was silence, like the time between the 1920 War and the First World War which broke out in 1939, which according to what I've heard is when your Second World War broke out…correct?"

Barnes nodded

"Yeah except ours ended in 1945 and we and the other Allies won." He said to him, "So do you have any idea why the Eastern Empire started to attack you?!"

"No, that's remained a mysterious to us even now." Erwin replied, "Fucking Eastern Imperials, they're as aggressive as they are endless. But that shit is light years away from us and now we've got the Eastern Imperials, Gene Corp, Blackwater, and the Roman Empire threatening to destroy us."

"I ensure you that won't happen." Barnes said to him

"I know it won't, there is talk about them redeploying more divisions and even the entire Third Army and General Chadaface with it and god help Blackwater and the Romans if that's true." He replied, "And then we've got the landships, which they're supposedly getting ready to deploy."

"Landships?" Barnes asked him

"I'll let them explain themselves when you see them." He replied

*****Author's Notes*****

) 1. Like the M48, many of the Federal Republic of Isotx's weapons are based off World War II and Cold War-era Western European and American weapons while many Isotxian vehicles are based off vehicles from the same era as well including the Ripper, which is based heavily off the Tiger and Abrams tanks and the Chadaface which has a mixed influenced between the Sherman, Patton tanks, and Leopard I while the Mandarax is influenced by the Panther and the Leopard 2.

) 2. Valka(I'm not going to bother hiding it because I've made it pretty obvious what's she been up to during all this) and Drago will be coming more into play when I start to get into Henderson's story arch, which will (hopefully) be soon. I'm also conflicted how much of a role Eret is going to play.

) 3. If any of you are noticing a sudden difference in format, it's because I'm now using Word 2013 rather than Open Office. Please comment on this in your reviews if you think this is better or worst.

) 4. Like their weapons and vehicles, some Isotxian characters are based off or in some cases named after famous figures from World War II. But I'm going to let you guess which ones are.


	14. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: The Deal – Part One

**IAS **_**Devastation **_**– Erwin's Quarters; In Route to Gene Corp HQ **

**Isotxian Strike Force and Task Force Therian **

**March 22****nd****, 2246 – 2332 Hours **

Erwin was using a lent brush on the right sleeve of his overcoat when an Isotxian Airship Officer entered his quarters through the door

"Major General Schnitter, we're less than thirty minutes away from Gene Corp's HQ." The Officer said to him

Erwin nodded and put away the lent brush before he stood up

"Is everything in place for the plan?" Erwin asked him

"Yes sir, Task Force Therian and its dragons are stowing away in our vehicle bay with your division and its vehicles while the Americans have positioned six of their airships in low orbit waiting for our signal." He replied

"Low orbit? What the hell does that mean?" Erwin asked him

The Officer shrugged and Erwin sighed

"I just hope it means we're all not going to be dead or worst by the time they get here." Erwin said, "Have we made contact with Gene Corp?"

"Yes sir, their envoy is waiting for you at the entrance of the main compound, which as our Intel has said, is located inside the mountain and is heavily fortified." The Airship Officer replied

"Well it is their main headquarters after all." Erwin said, "Let's get to the Hangar, is our transport ready?"

"It's all fueled up and ready to go." The Airship Officer replied

"Good." Erwin said as they left his quarters, "And if something goes wrong, tell the Captain to open fire on the facility with everything this thing has."

"Yes sir." The Airship Officer said to him before turning around and heading back the way he came from the bridge

"This is going to be a long night." Erwin thought to himself as he got into an elevator and pressed the button that made it go down to the level that the hangar was on, "And I swear to Isotx, if those god-playing bastards even touched my brothers, I'm going to fucking kill them with my own bear hands."

**Gene Corp HQ **

Cameron Yates was using a pair of binoculars to look at the incoming Isotxian airship

"Jesus fucking Christ that thing is HUGE!" Yates shouted as he lowered the binoculars, "Is everything in place?!"

"Yes sir." One of the Nearby Blackwater Officers replied

"Good!" Yates said, "Man I wonder if we can buy one of those!"

"Sir I think we need to focus on what they're here for, you know the prisoners?" A Blackwater General said to him

"Yeah…yeah, as long as none of those boneheads in the labs have turned them into dragons we're going to be fine!" He replied

"Actually sir about that…" The Scientist that was with the General said to him

"Please tell me you're not going to say what I think you are doctor!" He replied

The Doctor laughed uncomfortably as he rubbed the back of his head

"OH GOD! SHIT SHIT SHIT!" Yates shouted, "HOW COULD YOU?! I TOLD YOU AND YOUR STAFF EXPICILITY NOT TO TURN ANY OF THE ISOTXIANS INTO DRAGONS!"

"You did, but unfortunately not all of us listened apparently and it's only just two Isotxians." The Doctor replied

"Which ones?" Yates asked him

"Major Generals Manfred and Harrison Schnitter." He replied

"WHAT?! OH GOD! OUT OF ALL THE ONES TO TURN INTO DRAGONS IT WAS THEM?!" Yates shouted at him, "What species did they turned them into?!"

"Night Furies…" He replied

Yates sighed

"I also thought I said that in order to turn anybody into a Night Fury, you need my EXPLICT AUTHORIZATION!" He shouted

"So what are we going to do sir?!" The Blackwater General asked him

Yates began to rub his temples

"Well we can always give them compensation of some sort…" The Scientist said to him

"What kind of compensation will make up for turning somebody's brothers into dragons?!" He asked him

"Uhhhh…" He replied

"Exactly what I thought you were going to say…" Yates said, "Well I guess we might as well tell the truth and hope for the best!"

"Sure! Look here comes the Isotxian Envoy!" A Gene Corp Security Guard shouted an Isotxian helicopter took off out of the airship's hangar

"Oh fuck…" Yates said as he started to straighten himself out before looking back at the Scientists, "Get the Schnitter brothers ready!"

The Scientist nodded and ran back into the compound while inside the passenger compartment of the Isotxian C-142 Tiltrotor transport, Barnes was being handled by several Isotxian soldiers including the disguised Calvin while Margaret, who was in handcuffs and shackles, was being handled by Fergus while Erwin was sitting on one of the benches taking a quick drink of whiskey from his flask

"Please don't get drunk right now!" Calvin shouted at him, "I need you to try to get my sister and girlfriend back!"

"I'm not going to get fucking drunk!" He replied as he put the cap back onto his flask

"Can you please stop pulling that chain so hard?" Barnes asked one of the Isotxian Soldiers telepathically

"Sorry sir, trying to make it look convincing!" The Soldier replied

"Wow we're so ready for this…" Margaret said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes while Erwin stood up as the C-142 began to descend for a landing

"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP AND GET READY!" He shouted

"You ready for this lad?" Fergus asked Korensky

"Ready as I ever will be." He replied

"Good because I want you to watch over Mr. Karlson for me!" Fergus said to him

"I don't need a handler!" Calvin shouted at Fergus

"Well I say you do!" He replied

"I said shut up!" Erwin shouted again as the C-142 touched down and the back ramp began to drop down

"What did I do to deserve this?!" Korensky thought to himself as Erwin walked down the ramp with his two bodyguards as Yates and his two security guards approached him

"Greetings Mr…" Yates said to Erwin

"Erwin Schnitter." Erwin said to Yates, "You must be Cameron Yates."

"Oh." He said, trying to hide his uneasiness, "So I bet you're here for your brothers then?"

Erwin nodded as Barnes and Margaret were "unwillingly" walked out of the C-142

"Holy crap…how the hell did you get your hands on them?!" Yates asked Erwin

"Don't question our methods Mr. Yates." He replied, "So where are they?"

"We're keeping them with the rest of the prisoner and they're all safe and sound I ensure you!" Yates said to him

"Are they still human though? Because Mr. Barnes over here has claimed repeatedly that he used to be human before he was turned into a dra-. " He replied

"What…NO! We would never do anything like that here at Gene Corp!" Yates said to him

"What a bad liar…" Barnes said to Erwin telepathically

"Before we hand them over to you, I would like to see my brothers, in person." Erwin said to Yates

"Sure…" He replied after some hesitation while Erwin seamlessly hid his anger, "Right this way…"

"How is he doing this?" Calvin thought to himself

"You! Private! Come with us!" Erwin said to Calvin as he pointed to him, "The rest of you stay here with the prisoners!"

"Yes sir!" Calvin replied as he followed Erwin, Yates, and their guards into the facility while Barnes, Margaret, Fergus, and Korensky stayed behind

"Are you don't want us to handle that Night Fury for you guys?" A Blackwater Trooper asked them

"No, we're fine." One of the Isotxian Soldiers handling Barnes replied while inside the facility, Erwin, his guards, and Calvin were following Yates and his guards to Erwin's brothers

"You know they've defiantly turned your brothers into dragon, right?" Calvin whispered to Erwin

"I know they have." He replied, "But I got a feeling that it wasn't intentional though. Just stick with the plan."

Calvin nodded as Yates and his guards led them into an elevator

"Sorry about the lack of space." Yates said to them after they were all on the elevator before he pressed a button that made the elevator go down

"Major General, permission to speak freely please?" Calvin asked Erwin

"Permission granted." He replied

"So how far deep does this place go?" Calvin asked Yates

"I don't really know actually." He replied, "We're almost always expanding this place nowadays, defiantly now that Rome's nuked."

"Nuked?" Erwin asked him

"You know nukes as in nuclear weapons and that stuff? You don't have that in your world?" Yates asked him

"No, in fact this is the first time I've heard of them." He replied

"Oh, well I'm not the best person to ask because I'm not a nuclear physicist." Yates said

"Oh boy." Calvin thought to himself

"Why are you so short compared to the others?" One of Yates' Guards asked Calvin

"Never seen a dwarf before?" He replied

"I thought dwarves were smaller than that?" The Guard asked him

"Not our dwarves." He replied as the elevator reached its destination and the doors slid open

"Right this way please." Yates said as he led Erwin, his guards, and Calvin onto the floor

"I want to know more about these 'nukes' after all this is over." Erwin whispered to Calvin

"Why me? Ask my parents." He replied

"So what is place?" Erwin asked Yates

"High-Security holding area, we keep prisoners of high-value here." He replied

"Which means Mr. and Mrs. Reaper are probably down here somewhere." Calvin thought to himself

"I know you want to go looking for your sister and them, but stay with us for now." Erwin whispered to him

Calvin nodded as Yates led them into a large chamber with multiple cells containing captured Isotxian soldiers, who looked at Erwin with shock as he, Calvin, and his Guards followed Yates into the next chamber where they were two Night Furies being kept in a large holding cell

"Here…they…are." Yates said as he motioned to the Night Furies, who were looking at Erwin with wide eyes

"You son of a bitch…" Erwin said to him

"Please let me explain…it was an accident I ensure you!" Yates said to Erwin, "The scientists who turned them did it on their discretion without any authorization from their superiors!"

Erwin looked at Yates and could tell he was telling the truth

"Release them…now." Erwin said to him

"Yes…of course!" He replied before going over to the control panel for the door of the Night Furies' cell and opening the door allowing the Night Furies to run at Erwin and knock him down before they started to lick him

"What are you doing here?!" Manfred asked Erwin telepathically

"I'll explain later." He replied quietly, "Can you please stop licking me though?"

Manfred and Harrison backed off so Erwin could stand back up

"Even if it was an accident, the Federal Republic of Isotx demands compensation for this atrocity!" Erwin shouted at Yates while Manfred and Harrison stood up on their hind legs behind him

"Sure…sure, what do you want?" Yates asked him

"What are you doing?" Manfred asked Erwin, but he didn't reply

"We want bargaining chips so that if things go badly for us we can negotiate peace with the Coalition!" He replied

"Hmmm…I understand." Yates said, "But unfortunately we don't have any prisoners that we would like to give up, but we do have a few others in another facility we have up in Scandinavia, so we'll give you two of them!"

"Good enough…" Erwin said reluctantly, "Can we get a list of these prisoners? I wouldn't want you to give us a bunch of useless grunts."

"Of course!" Yates replied

"Shit." Yates thought to himself, "Well we still have the Reapers at least."

Manfred looked at Calvin

"Who are you?" He asked him telepathically

"You're going to find out." He whispered as Yates handed Erwin a tablet with a list of names and pictures on them

"They're all on there." Yates said to Erwin who scrolled down the list using his right index finger and picked out both Sheva Karlson and Emily Wensky from the list before handing the tablet back to Yates

Erwin grunted and handed the tablet back to Yates

"I would rather see them for myself." He said

"That can be arrange if you want, but unfortunately we've lost air superiority in that region to the Coalition." Yates replied

"Then our air force will regain it!" Erwin said to him, "But unfortunately I can't go myself I'm needed here, so take him instead!"

Erwin motioned to Calvin

"Me sir?!" He asked him,

Yes you Private!" He replied

Yates nodded and looked over at Calvin

"Do you have a name?" Yates asked him

"Calvin Yolanda." He replied, using the last name of an APM Officer that he and Emily used to play pranks on when they were kids

"Well Mr. Yolanda follow him and he'll take you to the airstrip." Yates said to him as he motioned to one of his guards

"Right this way kid." The Guard said to Calvin as he motioned him to follow him

Calvin nodded and followed the Gene Corp Security Guard out of the chamber leaving Erwin, his bodyguards, and his brothers alone with Yates and his single Guard

"So does this mean that you're going to give us your side of the deal now?" Yates asked Erwin

Erwin sighed

"For now we'll give you Barnes, but we'll keep his sister until Yolanda returns with the prisoners." He said to Yates, who nodded

"Very well, would you like to see where we're going to keeping him then?" He replied

"Sure, why not?" Erwin said to him before looking at one his guards, "Take my brothers to the surface."

"Yes sir!" The Isotxian Soldier replied, "Uhhh how do I get them there?!"

"Go back the way we came, but when you reach the elevators take a right and there should be a cargo elevator leading up to the surface!" Yates said to him

The Isotxian Soldier nodded before motioning to Manfred and Harrison to follow him

"What do you think you're doing?! His guys turned us into these!" Manfred said to Erwin telepathically

"Just follow him would you?!" He replied

"Ahhh, I see that your brothers have learned to use their telepathic abilities!" Yates said to Erwin

Erwin nodded as Manfred and Harrison followed the Soldier out of the chamber while Yates led him and their guards the same way, but taking another path when they reached the elevator into a large corridor with multiple chambers branching off of it

"So who or what do you keep here?" Erwin asked Yates

"The really, REALLY, dangerous ones!" He replied as he reached a set of blast doors guarded by four well-armed Blackwater Troopers

"Is this it?" Erwin asked him

"Yes it is, just warning you though, we do have two prisoners already in here, but they're very well restrained." He replied

Erwin nodded as Yates used his security card to open the blast doors allowing him, Erwin, and their guards to go in

"Uhhh what is this?" Erwin asked them as they entered a small room with a coat rack loaded with coats

"This chamber is kept at a low temperature for security purposes." Yates replied, "So put these on."

Yates grabbed one of the coats on the rack and threw it to Erwin, who placed it on over his uniform while Yates put on his own coat as the Guards did the same

"Ready?" Yates asked Erwin, who nodded, "Right through here then."

Yates and his guard led Erwin onto a catwalk over a larger sterile white chamber with two dragons being kept in upright in positions by chains

"So who are they?" Erwin asked Yates

"Those are the Reapers." He replied, "The big one is just Reaper, the smaller one is his wife, Catherine."

Both of the dragons looked up at Erwin and Yates

"How did you get them in here?" Erwin asked him

"Through there." He replied as he motioned to the blast doors on the main floor when Reaper noticed the pipes on the ceiling

"Is this a gas chamber?!" Erwin shouted which made the two dragons look up as well

"What?! Oh you mean those?!" Yates asked him as he looked up at the pipes, "No! Those are for flooding the room with water if they try to escape!"

"They're going to freeze us." Catherine said to Erwin telepathically while Reaper just looked at Erwin

"I think I've seen enough Mr. Yates." He replied

"Sure!" Yates said before they left

"I'm guessing that was an Isotxian?" Reaper asked Catherine telepathically

"Yep that was one of them, high-ranking one too." She replied

"Well whoever he was, I think he was up to something, because I could see it in his eyes." Reaper said to her, "Which tells me we're not going to be in here for much longer."

"I'll take your word for it." She replied

**Gene Corp Prison Facility; Scandinavia **

**March 23****rd****, 2246 - 0006 Hours **

Henderson woke up to the sight of two bright blue eyes of another Stormcutter staring at him

"Sheva what are you doing?" Henderson asked Sheva

"Nothing." She replied

"Then when are you staring at me?" He asked her

Sheva made a shrug-like motion with her upper wings

"Bored I guess, everybody else is still asleep." She replied

Henderson sighed and rose his head up before looking around and seeing that the others were indeed still sleeping as Sheva rose her head too

"You know Henderson there is actually something I've been wanting to tell you…" Sheva said to him

"What is it?" He asked her

"Well it may sound stupid but I think I-" She replied before the nozzles on the ceiling of their holding chamber made a groaning noise which woke the others

"Uhhh what was that?!" Jasmine Morrison, the former Corpsman of Henderson's squad, asked as everybody stood up and looked at the nozzles as some kind of vapor slowly began to resonate from the nozzles

"THEY'RE GASSING US!" Ward screamed as she and the other post-human dragons in the chamber began to panic as the slowly began to sink toward the ground while Henderson wrapped his wings around Sheva, who started crying

"Henderson!" Sheva shouted at Henderson telepathically

"What is it Sheva?!" He asked her

"All I just wanted to say was that I love you!" She replied before she "kissed" him

"Then I guess I have something to admit too…" He replied before he kissed her back and wrapped his wings around her

"It's knock-out gas…" Major General Aberly Dreher, another post-human Skrill and former German tank, said before he fell forward while the others, like dominoes including Henderson and Sheva and after they were all knocked out by the gas, several large fans kicked on and dispersed gas before the blast doors opened and several Gene Corp Security Guards came into the room carrying chains, shackles, and muzzles

"Hurry up and get them ready, we've only got a few hours before the Isotxian Envoy arrives!" One of the Guards shouted


	15. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: The Deal – Part Two

**Gene Corp HQ; The Alps **

**March 23****rd****, 2246 – 0023 Hours **

Reaper and Catherine were both looking at Barnes who had been restrained in a similar fashion to them on Reaper's right while Barnes told them both everything about Erwin's plan

"So you and the Isotxians are working together?" Catherine asked Barnes telepathically

"For now we are." He replied

"So was Erwin that Isotxian that Yates had with him earlier?" Reaper asked him telepathically, "Because I defiantly knew he was up to something when I saw him."

"Probably." He replied, "He's here for his brothers primarily, who I see he's already freed because I saw them as they were taking down here."

"What about Calvin?" Catherine asked him

"He was with Erwin disguised as an Isotxian paratrooper the last time I saw him, but I'm guessing he wasn't with Erwin when you saw him?" He replied

Catherine shook her head and Barnes sighed

"Well Erwin did promise him that they'll get Emily and Sheva back for him." He said to her telepathically

"It can kind of sucks that you can't do telepathy with two people at the same time." Reaper said to him, "Well at least Gene Corp was courteous enough to put us in the same holding area like this. So when you will your sister grace us with her presence?"

"Hopefully soon and not as a dragon." He replied, "And I think Erwin has a bit of a crush on her although he's not admitting it, so he might be hesitating to hand her over to Gene Corp."

"Well at least that way one of us is going to be still human." Reaper replied

Meanwhile up on the surface, Margaret and Fergus were back inside the passenger compartment of the C-142 as they waited for Erwin to tell him to hand her to Gene Corp

"What is taking him so long?!" Margaret said

"Why are you in such a rush to be given over to them?" Fergus asked her, "You know once we hand you over to them they're going to turn you into a dragon and put you with your brothers and parents."

"I know that! But if you haven't noticed, my entire family has been turned into dragons!" She replied

"Keep it down, we don't want those Blackwater blokes outside to hear us." Fergus said to her

"Sorry." She replied, "But I don't want to have my parents and brother to need a translation collar or telepathy just to speak with me. I want to be able hear their voices!"

"Well I guess I can understand that." Fergus said to her

"Do you have a family?" She asked him

"Not a living one, my parents are both dead and I was the only child." He replied, "And I haven't been able to get a girl because of the damn war!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Margaret said to him

"It's alright lass, that's just the way war is, we Isotxians have come to accept that fact." He replied

"Yeah Barnes told me that your people have been at war with the Eastern Imperials for almost a century, have you two ever thought about negotiations or anything?" Margaret asked him

"We tried that once and the Eastern Empire backed out of it at the last minute when we thought we were going to make a breakthrough and that was in 1939." He replied, "Nobody has tried since."

"Why did they back out?" Margaret asked him

"We don't know." He replied, "But since there have been a few people who have suggested some kind of talks or something, but nothing never comes out of them. So the only way the war is going to end is we break them or they break us, there's no in-between."

"It must be hell." Margaret said

"That is an understatement Miss Reaper." Fergus replied, "If there is anybody you should feel sorry for it's the families like the Schnitters, who are entirely dedicated to the military, not a single one of them can't say they've never been shot at!"

"Like Erwin?" Margaret asked him

"Yes like Erwin and he's no doubly going to replace his father one day as the big cheese in Northern Europe." He replied, "That damn lad is good at what he does and the Eastern Imperials fear him because of it. His brothers were good too, shame that had they to be turned into dragons though."

"Do you know his father?" Margaret asked him

"Not personally, but professionally yes." He replied, "In fact this is the first time I've gotten the honor to work with his son."

"Well let's hope his reputation lives up to what you say because I really don't want this to fuck up." Margaret said to him

"I don't either, which is why we have to trust him." He replied

**Somewhere over the Baltic**

**0430 Hours **

Calvin had allowed himself to fall asleep when a Blackwater Trooper woke him up

"Hey wake up kid, we're almost there!" He shouted to Calvin

Calvin nodded and stood up

"So why did they send you rather than some officer?" The Trooper asked him

"I have no idea, the Major General just chose me for some reason." He replied

"Well we've got the prisoners all lined up for you at the airstrip." The Trooper said to him

Calvin nodded

"Good because I wish to return to the Major General as soon as possible so we can conclude the deal and be on our way!" He said to the Trooper

"You do know this is a risky flight and once you get the prisoners you want onto this plane, every single American jet in a hundred miles is going to be looking for it?" He asked him

"I know, that's why we're going to meet up with one of our airships on the way back." Calvin replied

"You do know the Americans have airships of their own too?" The Trooper asked them

"Yes and they're all pinned down in Denmark right worrying about the rest of our airship fleet, which is much _MUCH_ bigger than theirs." Calvin replied

"If you say so Mr. Yolanda." The Trooper said to him, "Are you like secretly of a higher rank or something?"

"No, why are you asking?" He replied

"Just wondering because why they send the regular ground pounder to do this?" The Trooper asked him

"I'm not the one who made that decision." He replied

"You Isotxians are a god damn enigma, I swear." The Trooper said to him as he walked away

"I need to hurry up and get this done before I blow my cover." Calvin thought to himself

"Hey! We're on our final approach, so get settled down back there!" The Pilot of the Jet shouted to Calvin and the other Blackwater Personnel with him in the cargo compartment

Calvin sat down and put his seatbelt on as the Blackwater troopers did the same

"So you're supposed to be a paratrooper right?" One of the Blackwater Troopers asked him

"Yeah." He replied

"So I guess you're used to this stuff then?" The Trooper asked him

"Yeah." He replied as the plane started to rumbled as it touched down on the tarmac of the airstrip

"Let's just hope that Drago guy doesn't attack while we're here." One of the Troopers said to another

"Drago? Like Drago Bludvist?" Calvin asked him

"Yes him, Isotxians have already heard of him?" The Trooper replied

"Yeah we've heard some of the prisoners we've captured talk about him along with a couple of so-called dragon trappers." Calvin said, "Who is he?"

"He's some kind of warlord or something like that, calls himself the 'dragon god' and has a large army of dragons and people which he has been using to wreak havoc on our operations in this region." The Blackwater Officer in charge of the Troopers replied, "He also been somehow convincing some of our guys to fight for him in his army as well according to what I've heard."

"Why is he after you guys?" Calvin asked him

"He's wants those damn camps where Gene Corp turns all the poor sods the Romans capture for them into dragons along with our local weapon research and development and production facilities." He replied, "And to make matters worse the local Vikings are scared as shit of him and many of them are beginning to join his army."

"Huh that does sound bad." Calvin thought to himself

"So what are we going to do if he attacks?" Calvin asked him

"Run like heck." One of the Troopers replied, "I heard he has a really large dragon that shoots ice out of its mouth and can mind control other dragons!"

"That's just a rumor!" The Officer said to him

"I hope so because I don't want to be mind-fucked." Calvin thought to himself as the plane came to a stop shortly before its engines started to whine down as the offloading ramp began to lower while Calvin unbuckled his seat belt and began to walk out of the plane onto the airstrip where he was greeted by another Blackwater Officer

"Greetings Mr. Yolanda." The Officer said to Calvin, who nodded

"Where are they?" Calvin asked him

"In Hangar Four." He replied, "Right this way."

Calvin followed the Blackwater Officer into the fourth hangar of the airstrip where there were two Skrills, two Stormcutters, four Deadly Nadders, and a single Zippleback who were all chained and shackled together with muzzles on their snouts and heads

"Is this all of them?" Calvin asked him when he realized that Sheva, who he still thought was a Monstrous Nightmare, wasn't there while one of the Deadly Nadders lifted up its head

"Calvin?! Is that you?!" Emily asked Calvin telepathically, although he did his best to ignore her

"Do you want a list?" The Blackwater Officer asked him

"Yes please." He replied

"What are you doing here Calvin and why are you in that uniform?!" Emily asked him as he approached them

"Just play along with me because I can only take two of you and where's Sheva?" He replied

"She's the other Stormcutter with Henderson, be careful though, he's rather protective of her and it's likely he won't recognize you." Emily said to him, "How are you human?!"

"Long story!" He whispered as the Blackwater Officer returned with a tablet with a list of names on it

"Here you go Mr. Yolanda." The Officer said to him as he handed Calvin the tablet

"Thank you." He replied

"Yolanda?!" Emily asked Calvin telepathically as he scrolled down the list as he walked down toward Sheva and Henderson, the latter of which had one of his eyes opened and was watching Calvin as he stopped in front of Sheva

"Fuck off!" Henderson shouted at Calvin telepathically as he suddenly stood up and started growling at Calvin making him jump back while Henderson placed his right wings, which were chained to together, around Sheva, who also stood up

"See what I mean?!" Emily said to him before telling Henderson that it was Calvin telepathically

"How are you sure it's him?!" Henderson asked her telepathically

"Because I know Calvin Karlson when I see him Sergeant, I grew up with him remember?!" She replied

"I'm okay!" Calvin said as the Blackwater Officer helped him up

"Calvin is that really you?!" Sheva asked Calvin telepathically when the Officer activated a shock collar on Henderson, which brought him down to the ground, taking Sheva with him

"Henderson!" Sheva screamed, breaking her muzzle before the Officer activated her shock collar, pacifying her while Calvin tightened his hands into fists, but didn't do anything

"Remember Mr. Yolanda, you can only take two." The Officer said to Calvin while the other dragons began to wake up

"You know what to do Calvin…" Henderson said to Calvin telepathically, but hesitantly

Calvin sighed

"We'll take that one and this one." He said as he pointed to Emily and Sheva while another muzzle was placed around Sheva's head by a Gene Corp Security Guard

"Henderson?" Sheva asked Henderson

"Go with your brother Sheva, you'll be safer with him." He replied

"But I want to stay with you!" She said to him as two Gene Corp Security Guards began to unhook her and Emily from the others

"And I do too, but I want to be safe, so please go with Calvin and Emily." He replied

"Come on! Get up!" One of the Gene Corp Security Guards shouted to Sheva as they tried to separate her from Henderson

"Then promise you won't do anything to get yourself killed!" She said to him

"I won't." He replied, "And you promise you that you'll find Ellie and Evie for me and tell them that I'm okay!"

"I will." Sheva said to him as a Blackwater Officer held a revolver to Henderson's head and pulled back the hammer

"Is that really necessary?!" Calvin asked The Officer as Henderson reluctantly lifted his wing from Sheva so the Guards could take her with Emily to the plane before the Officer placed his revolver away

"Take care of her Calvin!" Henderson said to Calvin telepathically

Calvin nodded

"What's going to happen to them?" He asked the Officer

"We're going to put them back in their cell, but we're planning on moving them to another facility further south once we do some repairs to the rail link." He replied, "But their wellbeing is of none of your concern Mr. Yolanda, now I seriously suggest you get out of here before dawn breaks otherwise your chances of arriving at your destination will be slim."

Calvin nodded while Henderson started to sob

"How can these people even sleep at night?" Calvin thought to himself as he turned to leave the hangar while Ward, who was chained next to Henderson nudged him gently

"You did the right thing." She said to him telepathically

"I know I did…" He replied while outside, Calvin stood aside while Emily and Sheva were loaded onto the plane

"After this is all over, I want a lengthy explanation for all this." Emily said to him telepathically while Calvin pulled out his radio

"Major General Schnitter, it's Private Yolanda, I have secured the packages." He said to Erwin

"Roger that, the IAS _Chicago_ is in position awaiting for your arrival at the rendezvous point, contact me once you land on her flight deck and the packages are in our possession, and then real fun begins." He replied

"Yes sir!" Calvin said to him

"About damn time." He replied to himself before walking onto the plane as its engines rumbled back to life while the loading ramp lifted up and closed behind him before he sat down on the bench on the right side of the plane as it began to taxi to the main runway

**IAS **_**Devastation**_** – Vehicle Bay **

**Task Force Therian **

**0101 Hours **

Karlson and Tesla were laying down in a corner with their armor on while they watched an Isotxian soldier wearing heavy body armor, a gas mask, and a black helmet with a cracked skull and crossbones on the front of it sharpened the blade of his trench knife while four other Isotxian soldiers like him checked and cleaned their weapons

"I really don't like the looks of these guys Karl." Tesla said to Karlson telepathically

Karlson looked at a nearby Isotxian Officer, who was bewildered by the tablet an APMSF Officer was showing him

"What the hell do you call this contraption?" The Isotxian Officer asked the APMSF Officer

"It's a tablet, it's like a minicomputer." He replied

"What's a minicomputer?" The Officer asked him

"Hey you!" Karlson asked the Isotxian Officer telepathically

"Yes sir?" The Isotxian asked him

"Who are those guys?" Karlson asked him as he motioned to the Isotxian soldiers

"Them? Oh they're the death troopers, they're kind like your stormtroopers, except they're generally considered to be more expendable." The Officer replied, "They're usually soldiers who have lost their families as a result of the war or never had one, so they have nothing to lose, which is what makes them expendable and it's also why they get all the experimental and prototype weapons first to test out the kinks before they're given to the rest of us."

"So they're like a penal battalion basically, expect they volunteer for it?" Tesla asked him

"Yeah, we also have penal battalions too, but they're used for auxiliary work like ditch digging and burial detail." He replied

"We're not all expendable though." Said one of the Death Troopers as he stood up, "I am Major General Erich Orlok, commander of the 42nd Assault Infantry Division."

Karlson nodded

"So you must be General Karlson?" Erich said to him

"I am." He replied

"As I said, not all of us are considered as expendable as people generally believe we are because like everybody else, we value our lives." Erich said to him, "But we fight and die, so others may live."

"So you risk your lives to say others'?" Tesla replied with her translation collar

"That's basically what I said." He said to her, "So I've heard your son is risking his life as we speak."

Karlson nodded

"Have you heard from him?" Erich asked him

"Not since he left the hangar bay with Erwin and the rest of the envoy." He replied

"Erwin? As in Major General Erwin Schnitter the 31st?" Erich asked him, "So I guess this whole thing is all his idea?"

"Basically." Tesla replied

"Well then let me ensure that Erwin defiantly knows what he's doing because I've served alongside him and his brothers numerous times." Erich said to them, "And they've saved my live on several occasions, so I own them a big deal."

"Thank you General Erich." Karlson replied, "So why do you wear the gas masks?"

"It's a fear thing, it's a proven fact that people are generally more afraid of what they can't see." Erich said as he took off his gas mask, revealing his face and the scar on his right eye

"How old are you?" Tesla asked him

"Fifty-two, been in the 42nd for almost twenty years now and I've thought I've seen and heard everything before all this shit happened!" He replied, "Dragons, people being turned into dragons, people from other dimensions, invading other dimensions, fight dragons, you name it."

"That's what I said too during the First War and then I turned myself into one so I could be with her…and now we have two kids." Karlson said to him

Erich laughed

"What some people do for love, am I right?" He asked him

"Yeah…" Tesla replied, "Which is what worries me about our son Calvin."

"Calvin? I think I heard he had to go to Scandinavia for somewhere for a prisoner pick-up. Erich said to her

"WHAT?!" Karlson asked him

"Yeah, Erwin managed to trick that damn dumbass down there who's in charge of Gene Corp to give us two of their bargaining chips that they were going to use get a peace agreement with you guys if they needed to as compensation for turning his brothers into Night Furies." He replied

"Oh my god he's actually fucking doing it." Karlson said to Tesla

"When are they going to be back?" Tesla asked Erich

"They're taking them to the IAS _Chicago_, it's one of our Air Carriers and once they get there we'll start the second phase of the plan." He replied

"Air Carrier, as in a flying aircraft carrier?!" Karlson asked him

"Yep." He replied, "I'm guessing you guys don't have those."

"You people have a lot of things we don't have and we have a lot of things you don't have." Karlson said to him


	16. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: A Family Reunited – Part One

**Somewhere over the Baltic **

**March 23****rd****, 2246; 0843 Hours **

Calvin was seated next to Emily and Sheva in the plane as it approached the rendezvous point with the IAS _Chicago_

"Calvin can you please say something to us?!" Sheva asked him telepathically

Calvin motioned to the Blackwater Troopers in the plane with this eyes

"Oh…" Sheva replied

"Hey Mr. Yolanda, is this that the airship we're supposed to be meeting up with?!" The Pilot of the Plane shouted back to Calvin, who got up from his seat and walked into the cockpit to see the massive flying vessel that they were approaching and its escorts

"Yeah." Calvin replied

"Jesus Christ it's a flying fucking aircraft carrier, did we just crossover into the Avengers or something?!" The Co-Pilot asked

"This defiantly isn't a comic book son." The Pilot replied

"This is the captain of the IAS _Chicago_ to Gene Corp Cargo Plane, is Mr. Yolanda aboard with you?" A Isotxian Airship Officer asked over the radio which the co-pilot quickly grabbed

"Affirmative, he's right here in the cockpit with us!" The Co-Pilot replied

"Can you hand the radio to him please?" The Airship Officer asked him

"Here kid." The Co-Pilot as he handed the transmitter to Calvin

"Mr. Yolanda here." Calvin said to the Airship Captain

"Do you have the packages?" He asked him

"Yes sir." He replied

"Good, then you're clear to land, we've got security teams on standby to secure the cargo." The Airship Captain said to him, "IAS_ Chicago_ signing out."

"Roger that." Calvin replied before he gave the transmitter back to the Co-Pilot

"You're expecting us to land on that thing?!" The Pilot asked him

"I think she's big enough for us to land on her!" The Co-Pilot said to him

"I wasn't asking you!" The Pilot replied, "But I have no idea how to even land on a regular carrier, none of the less a flying one!"

Calvin reached over the Co-Pilot and grabbed the radio transmitter

"Yolanda to IAS _Chicago_, I'm going to need you to talk my pilots through." Calvin said to the Captain of the _Chicago_

"Copy that, hand me over to them." He replied

Calvin handed the transmitter back to the Pilot before he headed back into the cargo compartment where he sat back down next to Sheva and Emily

"Buckle down! Something tells me this is going to be a hard landing!" Calvin shouted

"What did we just get ourselves into?!" Emily asked Sheva telepathically

"I have no idea anymore." She replied as the plane began to fly a circle around the IAS _Chicago_ while the pilots gradually decreased the throttle, slowing it down as they made a slow turn toward the Isotxian air carrier

"Hold on back there! This is going to be a bit bumpy!" The Co-Pilot shouted over the Intercom

"Calvin! If we don't survive this, I want you to know that I love you!" Emily shouted to Calvin telepathically as the plane touched down onto the _Chicago's_ flight deck before finally coming to a stop

"I told you she was big enough!" The Co-Pilot shouted to the Pilot as they began to shut off the engines and opened the offloading ramp as Calvin stood up

"Whatever happens remain calm." Calvin said to Emily quietly as several Isotxian Air Marines ran onto the plane with their weapons aimed at the Blackwater Troopers

"Put your weapons down and hands behind your head!" The Air Marines shouted at the Blackwater Troopers

"What the hell?! It's a trap!" The Blackwater Officer shouted and lifted up their weapons while Calvin pulled unslung his M48 and aimed it at the Blackwater Officer's head, accidentally revealing his transformation device, which had an APMSF insignia on it

"Surprise mother fucker!" Calvin said to him

"Dad has been showing you those action movies again hasn't he?" Sheva asked him telepathically

"I should've known you weren't a fucking Iso!" He shouted at Calvin when he saw the APMSF insignia on Calvin's transformation device, "So what's your real name then?!"

"Calvin Karlson." Calvin replied

"Aww I see now, came all this way to free your sister and girlfriend?" The Blackwater Officer said, "Do you also know you have the safety-"

Calvin flipped the safety off on his rifle

"My bad." Calvin said to him, "Now put the weapons down before I have to splatter your fucking brains all over the place in front of my sister!"

The Blackwater Officer sighed

"Was getting tired of this shit anyway." He said before he and his men threw their weapons down to the floor of the cargo compartment

"Get them out of here!" Calvin shouted to the Isotxian Air Marines

"All of you with us!" The Lead Air Marine shouted to the Blackwater Troopers and Pilots, who they led off the plane while Calvin went over to Sheva and pulled her muzzle off

"How did they do this to you?!" Calvin asked her

"I guess the same way you're human right now." She replied

"Well at least I can turn back if I want to." Calvin said to her as he started unchaining her from the floor

"What?! How?!" She asked him

Calvin pulled down his sleeve, revealing the transformation device

"I would do it now, but I'm saving it for later." He said to her, "So how close were you and Henderson?"

"I don't want to talk about it." She replied as she turned her head around and ripped off the remaining chains herself while Calvin stood up and moved onto Emily while Echo Squad walked in

"Need help here Calvin?" Eddie asked Calvin as he removed Emily's muzzle

"Yeah remove these chains for me." He replied as Emily knocked him down by nudging him

"Sorry, used to you being bigger than me." She said to him telepathically

"Oh yeah you don't need to use telepathy to talk to me, I can still understand you guys." He replied

"Cool." Sheva said as she lifted him up onto his feet by grabbing the back of his collar, "So what the hell is going on and why are you guys with these Isotxian people?!"

"Well I had no idea they were going to be here." Calvin said as he looked at Echo Squad as they removed the last of the chains holding Emily down, "But we're working with them to get Reaper back in exchange for a cease fire."

"You guys found Reaper?!" Emily shouted

"Yeah they have him in their headquarters in the Alps and the poor bastards don't know what's about to hit them." Calvin replied, "And all I have to do is contact Major General Schnitter with this radio and the attack will begin."

Emily snorted

"Is there a way we can get there in time to join the attack?!" She asked him

"Eddie! Do you guys have anything that get us back to Gene Corp's HQ in a hurry?" Calvin shouted to Eddie, who nodded

"I was almost beginning to think that you were never going to ask! Both the USAS _Patton _and _Eisenhower_ are ready to transition in right over the place as soon as that Isotxian General gives the world!" He replied, "We've got a VTOL below deck that will take us right to them!"

"Good!" Calvin said, "Do you also have armor for them to wear?!"

"For her we do." Katrina said as she pointed at Emily before looking at Sheva, "But not for her since we thought she was going to be a Monstrous Nightmare still."

"God dammit." Calvin replied while Sheva sighed

"I'll stay on the _Patton_ while you two go fight." She said to Calvin and Emily

Emily suddenly noticed the scar on Calvin's arm beneath his transformation device

"Calvin what happened to your arm?!" Emily shouted

"Oh this?!" Calvin asked her as he looked at the scar, "This is where the doctors had to cut my wings open to rebuild them after Casca and his men broke them."

"They broke your wings?!" Sheva screamed

"It's okay now! I can still fly when I'm a Monstrous Nightmare!" Calvin replied

"Really? Show us!" Emily said to him

Calvin sighed

"This is what happens when we're all born in the show-me state." He thought to himself

"Can you get out of here first, I don't want to tear up this uniform, so I'm going have to…" He said to Echo Squad, Emily, and Sheva

"We understand." Eddie replied, "Come on guys."

Emily, Sheva, and Echo Squad left the plane while Calvin started to take the Isotxian uniform off

"This is embarrassing…" Calvin thought to himself, "But at least I have Emily and Sheva back."

After completely stripping off all his clothes, Calvin activated his transformation device which began to countdown

"Initiating transformation in five…four…three…two…one."

A few minutes later; Emily, Sheva, and Echo Squad were waiting outside the plane when Calvin, now fully transformed into a Monstrous Nightmare crawled out from inside the plane

"God that was a tight fit!" Calvin said as he popped his neck

"Holy crap you're big now!" Emily said to him as he stretched out

"That's what happens when you grow up Emily." He replied, "I've been waiting to be able to do this."

Calvin spread out his wings and lifted off into the air before hovering over the flight deck while Emily, Sheva, Echo Squad, and Isotxian Air Marines and flight crewman on the flight deck watched

"Casca may have broken my wings, but he didn't break me!" Calvin shouted to them before he landed back on the flight deck

"Now that's the Calvin Karlson I remember!" Emily said as she and Sheva ran to him and began to nuzzle him

"Is my armor and translation collar still on the _Patton_?" Calvin asked Eddie telepathically

"It is, it is with her armor." He replied

"Then let's starting heading over that way." Calvin said to him

"Come on Emily, come on Sheva, we're wasting enough time as it is." He replied

Emily and Sheva both nodded and snorted

"Let's go kick some fucking ass!" Emily shouted as she, Calvin, and Sheva took off into the air together while an idea suddenly flickered into Calvin's mind

"The _Patton's _that way!" Eddie shouted as he pointed west toward Denmark which was faintly visible in the distance where Emily, Calvin, and Sheva began to fly

"Hey Emily after all this is over, I have a question I want to ask you!" Calvin shouted to Emily as they flew

"I can't wait!" She replied, "Oh man it feels good to be able to do this again!"

"So how are we going to explain this to mom and dad Calv?" Sheva asked Calvin, "You know with me being a Stormcutter and all?"

"I'm sure they'll understand that part Sheva, but you're going have to tell them about whatever you had going with Sergeant Henderson, you know that right?" He replied

"I know…" Sheva said quietly

"Well your dad seemed to think very highly of Henderson, so maybe he won't be too mad about it!" Emily shouted to them, "Uhhhh Calvin weren't you supposed to contact this Erwin guy to tell him to start the attack?

"OH SHIT!" Calvin replied before he turned around and started flying back to the _Chicago_

"Well that lasted long." Sheva said as she and Emily turned around as well

**Gene Corp HQ; The Alps **

**0854 Hours **

Erwin and his guards were still following Yates and his guards as he gave them a tour of the facility when his radio suddenly began to crackle

"Is that Mr. Yolanda?" Yates asked Erwin

"I don't know." He replied as he grabbed his radio and extended the antenna, "Major General Erwin Schnitter the 31st here, what is it?"

"Herr Generalmajor, the packages have been delivered!" An Isotxian German Officer replied

"Affirmative…where's Private Yolanda?" Erwin asked him

"Herr Yolanda is uhhhh…'busy', so he requested that I tell you." He replied

"Oh god, should've saw this coming." Erwin thought to himself

"Very well, Erwin out." He said to the Officer before cutting the transmission and switching the channel

"So was that him?" Yates asked him

"Not exactly, but the packages have been delivered." Erwin replied as he contacted Fergus

"Captain Ferguson, do you copy?" Erwin asked Fergus

"Hear you loud and clear general! Is it time?" He replied

"Yes, take Miss Reaper inside the facility and meet with us near the elevators." Erwin said to him

"So we're not going loud yet?" He asked him

"Not yet, but soon." He whispered

"Roger that, meet you at the elevators, should I bring Mr. Korensky as well?" Fergus asked him

"Sure." He replied, "Erwin out."

Erwin cut off the transmission and placed the radio off

"So general will you be interested in seeing how the procedure goes?" Yates asked Erwin

"As in the transformation process?" He replied

"Of course!" Yates said, "Just to prove to you that it's completely painless and humane!"

"Humane my ass." Erwin thought to himself

"Sure." He replied

**IAS **_**Devastation **__-_** Hangar Bay **

**0930 Hours **

The post-human dragons were up and preparing for battle with the Isotxians when Karlson started to receive a transmission

"General Charles Karlson here, rep-." Karlson said as he responded to the transmission before Calvin cheerfully replied

"Hi dad!"

"Calvin! Where are you?!" Karlson shouted as Tesla, Katie, and Wensky ran over

"Back on the _Patton_ and guess who's with me?!" Calvin replied

"Hey guys! Emily shouted as she joined with her own translation collar

"Emily!" Katie and Wensky both shouted

"Where's Sheva?!" Tesla shouted

"She's here too, but there's a…uhhhh…a bit of a problem." Calvin replied, "Do you know how the scientists at Area 51 were able to give the ability transform because I didn't have nanites in my bloodstream? Well Gene Corp figured that out too and…should I tell them or do you want to?"

"Well they don't have a translation collar that can fit me right now, so I guess you'll have to do it." Sheva said to him in the background

"Well Gene Corp turned her into a Stormcutter." Calvin replied, "But other than that, she's still herself."

"I kind of saw that coming when you said Gene Corp figured out she didn't have nanites in her blood either, doesn't Emily too?" Karlson asked him

"We don't know, one of the doctors just took a blood sample from her to find out." He replied

"If I don't, I want one of these transformation device things that he has!" Emily shouted

"So I'm guessing you're a Monstrous Nightmare again?!" Wensky asked Calvin

"Yep, they made me do it because they didn't believe me when I told them that I could still fly after seeing the scars from the reconstruction surgery." He replied

"We didn't make you do anything!" Sheva shouted to him in the background

"But anyway, we'll be heading your way as soon as Erwin gives the order to start the attack!" Calvin said to Karlson, "Which should be soon now!"

"We know! We got the order to start getting ready!" He replied, "So where were they keeping them?

"A prison facility in Scandinavia, but I don't know where it. But they still got the others because I could get two of them!" Calvin said

"Did you make any calls to Erwin while you were there?!" Karlson asked him

"Yeah." He replied

"Then we might about be to trace it to there! Good fucking work Calvin!" Karlson said to him, "Dad out!"

"That unbelievable son of a bitch! He actually did it! He actually fucking did it!" Wensky shouted as he held Katie with one of his wings as she cried happily

"He couldn't have done it without Erwin though, so we'll have to thank him as well after all this is over." Karlson replied

"Yeah if he doesn't get us all killed." Tesla said to him


	17. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: A Family Reunited – Part Two

**Gene Corp HQ; The Alps **

**March 23****rd****, 2246 - 1009 Hours **

A few minutes later, Erwin, his guards, Fergus, and Korensky were with Yates and his Guards while they watched through a reinforced glass window as two Gene Corp Security Guards strapped Margaret onto a large metal table while a Scientist came into the room carrying a small metal case, which he placed onto a cart before opening it and pulled out an injector

"Wait for it…wait for it…" Erwin said to himself quietly as the Security Guards finished strapping Margaret onto the table and left the room

"Before we begin Miss Reaper I am going to let you make a choice, do you want to be a Skrill or Night Fury?" The Scientist asked Margaret, who gulped as she looked at the syringe gun

"Which one did you turn my mother?" She asked him

"Skrill." He replied

"Skrill it is then." She said to him when she looked at Erwin from the corner of her eye while the

"Anytime now." Margaret thought to herself as the Scientist picked up a vile filled with a dark purplish material and placed it into the injector

"NOW!" Erwin shouted

"What the FUCK?!" One of Yates' Guards shouted as Erwin, his guards drew their guns out and immediately shot and killed both of Yate's guards before pointing them at Yates himself while the Scientist stared on in shock

"HOLY SHIT!" Yates shouted, "You fucking Isotxian bastards! You tricked us!"

"Well you shouldn't have turned my brothers into dragons!" Erwin shouted, "Now give me your damn key card!"

Yates sighed and grabbed his security key card which he threw to Erwin's feet

"Fergus, Korensky! Get that card and get Margaret!" Erwin shouted as he pulled out his radio

"Yes General!" Fergus replied as he bent over to grab the card before running to the door to unlock it

"Watch him!" Erwin shouted to his guards while he grabbed his radio while inside the other room, Fergus was removing the straps from Margaret while Korensky pointed his M48 rifle at the Scientist who was holding his hands up with the injector

"Corporal Korensky! Grab that injector and the case before we go!" Fergus shouted, "It probably wouldn't hurt for our own lab coats back home to get a look at those nanites things!"

"Yes sir! You heard the man, put the injector back into the case and close it and stay away from it!" Korensky shouted at the scientist

The Scientist nodded and placed the injector back into its case and closed it before stepping away from it, not noticing the small syringe the scientist had in his right hand as he reached to grabbed the case

"Here have this as well!" The Scientist shouted as he slammed the syringe which was filled with a bright blue material into Korensky's hand as it touched the case's handle and injected the material inside it into him

"RICHIE!" Fergus shouted as he turned around with his submachine gun drawn and saw Korensky pulling his hand back while the Scientist reached to grab the case, "I don't bloody think so you wanker!"

Fergus emptied the entire clip he had in his SMG into the Scientist, who fell back onto the floor while Korensky pulled the syringe out of his hand before throwing it

"Are you okay over there Korensky?!" Fergus asked Korensky

"Yeah I think so!" He replied when Fergus as he looked at arm when he noticed that a blue scaly rash was beginning to form around where the syringe at had been, "What the hell?!"

"What is it?!" Fergus asked him when he saw the rash growing on Korensky's arm along with Margaret as she undid the last of the straps

"Oh my god!" Margaret as she held her hands over her mouth

"What the hell is happening to me?!" Korensky shouted as he tried to shake his arm while the Scientist, who was still dying in a puddle of his own blood on the floor, began to cough and laugh

"Enjoy your new life as a Deadly Nadder you son of a bitch!" The Scientist said to Korensky as he started to cough out blood

"YOU FUCKING GENE CORP WANKER!" Fergus screamed as Erwin ran into the room while he finished reloading his SMG and aimed it at the scientist

"What the hell is going on here?!" Erwin asked them before he saw the scaly rash that was now rapidly spreading up Korensky's arm

"Yeah…" He replied

"Why are you still awake?!" The Scientist said between bloody coughs, "You should be sound asleep right from the sedatives the nanites are releasing!"

"You're going to be asleep soon if you don't fix my friend!" Fergus shouted at him

The Scientist laughed

"I'm afraid the changes are irreversible…" He said to him

Erwin sighed angrily before pulling out his .44 magnum and popping a single shot into the Scientist's head

"God playing wanker…" Fergus growled

"You think you can make it back to the surface with us?" Erwin asked Korensky

"I'll try, but I'm not going to promise anything." He replied

Erwin sighed while the ceiling shook from a large above ground explosion

"The attack is starting! We need to get your parents and brother and get back to the surface ASAP!" Erwin shouted to Margaret

"Give me a gun then!" She replied as she jumped

"Take on Yates' guards' guns, they won't be needing them any longer." Erwin said to her while Korensky grabbed the case containing the injector and the vials of dragon DNA

"Are you sure you're going to be okay Richie?" Fergus asked Korensky

"Yeah…" He replied, "If I'm going to turn into a Deadly Nadder, I'm going to take a few Blackwater and Gene Corp bastards down while I'm going it!"

Fergus patted Korensky on the shoulder

"So are we going to get the bloody fuck out of here or what?!" Fergus asked Erwin, who nodded and led them out, grabbing Yates by the collar and holding him in front of him

"Just in your security decides to give us grief." Erwin said into Yates' ear as they went toward the nearest stairwell while several levels below them; Barnes, Catherine, and Reaper were looking up at the ceiling of the chamber as quiet explosions echoed down from the surface

"Finally!" Barnes thought to himself before he looked down at his parents, who were looking at him

"So what's the plan?" Reaper asked him telepathically

"We wait until Erwin and his guys show up to free us, then after that we find Yates and either kill or capture him." He replied

"Sounds good to me." Reaper said before he told Catherine the plan telepathically

"So we're just going to wait here and hope this Erwin and his men find us before Yates has us killed?" She asked Barnes telepathically

Barnes snorted

"If everything's gone according to plan, Erwin should be holding Yates as a hostage." He replied

"Man it sucks not knowing what you guys are talking about." Reaper said to Catherine telepathically

"Are you sure we can trust Erwin? Because I don't want to trade Yates for another madman." Catherine said to Barnes

"Karlson thinks we can." He replied when the blast doors began to open

"Finally!" Barnes said as Fergus and Korensky were the first to enter the chamber

"Left clear!" Fergus shouted

"Right clear!" Korensky shouted as Margaret came in after them followed by Erwin and his guards with Yates in tow

"About damn time!" Reaper said to Erwin telepathically

"Get them down!" Erwin shouted to Fergus and Korensky

"How the hell are we supposed to that?! We didn't bring any cutting tools with us!" Fergus shouted to him, "And Richie can't breathe fire just yet."

"You're a commando, think of something!" Erwin replied as Margaret ran over to Catherine

"Mom!" She shouted as she hugged Catherine, who began to purr while Fergus went over to Reaper and started to climb on him using the spines on his back as a ladder

"What the hell are you doing?!" Reaper asked Fergus telepathically

"Trying to find a way to free your arse! Now hold still!" He replied

Reaper snorted and rolled his eyes, but held still as Fergus climbed onto the top of his back behind his head where he started to inspect the chain connecting the largest harness holding Reaper's right wing in place to the ceiling

"Richie! Throw me your rifle, I got an idea!" Fergus shouted to Korensky

"Yes sir!" He replied as he threw his M48 rifle up to Korensky

"Is that…is that an FN FAL?!" Reaper asked Fergus, who rolled his eyes and he aimed the rifle at the lock on the harness

"Now Mr. President I need you to hold completely still." He said to Reaper as he closed one of his eyes as the other way stared down the M48's sights

"Well no need to worry about that because I can barely move right now because they have me chained so well." Reaper said to Fergus before he fired a single shot from the M48 and struck the lock on the harness, breaking it and allowing Korensky to remove it

"One down, three to go." Fergus said to himself as he aimed at the lock on the smallest harness on Reaper's right wing before firing again and knocking out the lock on it while Korensky removed it as well as Fergus turned his attention to the harnesses on Reaper's left wing

"This is taking too long!" Reaper thought to himself as Fergus shot out the lock on the first left harness that Korensky quickly removed while Fergus aimed for the lock on the last harness

"Get ready for a bit of a fall Mr. Reaper." Fergus said to Reaper before he fired and knock off the lock on the last harness which broke open causing Reaper and Fergus to fall to the ground

"Thank you Mr…Fergus isn't it?" Reaper said to Fergus telepathically as they got up

"Just doing my job, now come over here so I can get that damn muzzle off of you." He replied

Reaper nodded and crawled over to Fergus, who pulled out his knife and used it to cut the leather straps holding it onto Reaper's snout allowing Fergus to pull off the muzzle

"Now go free your wife while we handle your son!" Fergus said to Reaper, who immediately ran on his hinds to help Margaret free Catherine while Fergus and Korensky ran to free Barnes

"You're going to regret this! I swear on it!" Yates shouted to Erwin

"Just shut up before I blow a cap in you." He replied

"I'm really starting to burn up…" Korensky said to Fergus as he sweated uncontrollably

"Just stay with us for a bit longer Richie, we're almost done!" He replied while Reaper removed the first harness from Catherine's left wing

"I can't wait until all this over! We can finally be somewhat of a functioning family again!" Reaper said to Catherine telepathically as he used his teeth and claws to rip apart the second harness from Catherine's left wing

"Except we'll be dragons." She replied

"If Barnes and Samantha can do it, so can we." Reaper said to her

Catherine smiled as Reaper ripped off the first harness from Catherine's right wing while Fergus and Korensky used their knifes to break open the harnesses on Barnes' wings

"Just hold on for a little bit longer Mr. Barnes and you'll be a freeman again!" Fergus said while Korensky stopped to catch his breath for a little bit before continuing with breaking open the last harness on Barnes' right wing

"Is he going to be okay?" Barnes asked Fergus telepathically

"No general, he's not. While we were freeing your sister, some damn Gene Corp lab coat injected him with Deadly Nadder DNA so he's slowly turning into one of them." He replied

"Oh no, I'm so sorry." Barnes said to him

"It's okay, at least he's not dying or anything!" He replied when two Blackwater troopers rushed into positon on the catwalk

"Kill them all!" Yates screamed to them before they started firing at Reaper and Margaret as they removed the last harness from Catherine's' right wing causing her to fall to the ground

"Get behind me!" Reaper shouted at them as he extended his wings out in an effort to protect Catherine and Margaret from the incoming fire while one of Erwin's guards mounted a rifle grenade onto the barrel of his M48 before aiming it up at the Blackwater troopers

"Fire in the hole!" The Isotxian Soldier shouted before he fired the rifle grenade and underside of the catwalk causing it to collapse and the Blackwater troopers to fall to the ground, killing them both while Erwin threw Yates to the ground and slammed his boot onto his back while Reaper retracted his wings back to his body as Margaret removed the muzzle from her mother's snout

"Are you okay?!" Catherine asked Reaper, who was breathing heavily as blood ran from the multiple bullet wounds in his back along with a few bullet holes in hi

"I'm bleeding a little, but I think I'm going to fine." He replied, "What about you two?"

Catherine looked at Margaret

"Yeah we're fine too." She said to him as she stood up and laid down her back spines so Reaper could wrap his wings around her

"I missed you so much." Reaper said to her

"Me too." She replied while Barnes landed on his feet after Korensky and Fergus broke the last harness holding him up before using the claws on his front left foot to pull off his muzzle

"Now that that's done! Let's get of here!" Barnes shouted

"Agreed!" Reaper replied as he released Catherine

"We'll continue that later." Reaper said to her before he nuzzled her

"Looking forward to it." She replied as Erwin picked Yates up again and began pushing him forward while the others followed and that was when Catherine noticed the bullet holes in Reaper's back

"Reaper! Your back!" She screamed

"I'm fine Catherine! They're just flesh wounds!" Reaper said to her when Erwin stopped pushing Yates forward when large mechanic footsteps began to echo from the corridor outside the chamber

"Uhhh what is that?!" One of Erwin's Guard asked as the footsteps became louder and louder

"Is that one of ours?!" Catherine asked Reaper

"Unless it's something I don't know about, no!" He replied before a Blackwater trooper operating a large powered exoskeleton armed with a large rifle-like weapon smashed his way through the doorway

"Now we're talking! Yates shouted as Erwin dropped him to the ground

"HOLY SHIT!" Catherine screamed

"KILL THEM!" Yates shouted as he jumped up and ran out of the chamber

"Proudly sir!" The Blackwater Trooper replied as switched the safety off on his weapon before aiming it at Erwin and his Guards

"OPEN FIRE!" Erwin screamed as he, his guards, Fergus, Margaret, and Korensky fired their weapons at the Blackwater trooper, but their rounds uselessly ricocheted off its armor and the bulletproof glass protecting it's operator before they finally emptied their clips

"Is that all you got?!" The Blackwater Trooper shouted at them before Barnes shot him with a fully-charged plasma blast, knocking the exoskeleton onto its back and seemingly disabling it

"Wait! Something isn't right here!" Erwin shouted as he held back one of his Guards

"What do you mean something isn't right! I killed it, end of story!" Barnes replied before the Exoskeleton started to get up again while it's Operator laughed at him

"You thought that was going to work?! This suit is designed to be immune to your attacks! There is nothing you can do that can hurt me in this thing, NOTHING!" The Exoskeleton shouted as he picked up his assault cannon, "And you have nowhere to run!"

One of Erwin's Guards fired a rifle grenade at the Exoskeleton, which simply stepped out of the way as it flew past him and exploded on the wall behind him

"Nice try." The Operator replied, "Now let me show you a REAL gun!"

The Exoskeleton's operator began to fire the assault cannon, killing both of Erwin's Guards while forcing the others to scatter as the Exoskeleton Operator emptied his clip, but instead of reloading, he dropped the assault cannon and ran after Erwin, who accidentally tripped over a broken chain and was trying to get up when the Exoskeleton grabbed him by his legs and lifted him up before grabbing his arms with its other hands

"Let's see what's inside!" The Operator shouted as he began to pull Erwin's arms and legs in opposite directions while Reaper suddenly jumped onto the exoskeletons back which forced it's Operator to drop Erwin, allowing him to escape while the Operator tried to rip Reaper off his back while Reaper tried to charge up a lighting attack

"Come on! Come on!" Reaper shouted as he tried to get a powerful enough charge going before the Exoskeleton Operator grabbed a hold of his tail and used it to rip Reaper off his back and throw him across the room into the wall

"Reaper!" Catherine screamed as Reaper tried to get up, but stumbled and fell down while the Exoskeleton approached him and lifted up its left foot over Reaper's head, failing to notice Erwin as he drew out a cavalry sabre while he charged at its back

"What the hell?!" Margaret shouted as Erwin pressed a button on the sabre's handle, activating a battery inside it that sent an electrical charge into the Isotxian steel blade that intensified its energy field and strengthened it while Erwin ducked and slid under the exoskeleton and used the sabre to cut through it's right leg, bringing it down and saving Reaper from having his head stomped into the ground while Barnes and Catherine ran to him

"What the fuck?!" The Exoskeleton Operator screamed as he tried to get his machine to get back up while Erwin climbed onto it and stood over the cockpit with his powered sabre still drawn

"Eat Isotxian steel you mother fucker!" Erwin shouted before he stabbed the sabre through the bulletproof glass and into the Operator's chest, roasting his hearts and lungs as it pierced through the chest cavity, killing him instantly before Erwin pulled his sabre out and flipped off the battery, powering down the blade

"Thank you." Reaper said to him telepathically as Catherine, Margaret, and Barnes tended to him

Erwin nodded as Fergus and Korensky, whose face was now starting to be covered by the blue scales, ran to him

"Are you okay?!" Fergus asked Erwin

"Yeah, just a bit taller I think." He replied before he bent backwards and popped his back

"What kind of sword is that and where can I get one?!" Margaret shouted to Erwin

"It's a powered sabre, it uses a small battery to send an electrical current into the blade and intensifies the energy field around it, making it stronger and allowing it to cut through materials that it wouldn't normally be able it." He replied as he placed the sword back into its sheath before jumping down from the crippled exoskeleton

"Hey unless any of you haven't noticed, BUT YATES IS GETTING AWAY!" Korensky shouted

"Forget about him! We need to get my husband to a doctor!" Catherine shouted to Erwin telepathically as she and Barnes helped Reaper get up

Erwin sighed

"Hey I can understand you guys now!" Korensky replied

"Uhhhh…what's wrong with his face?!" Catherine asked

"Some Gene Corp lab coat injected me with Deadly Nadder DNA, so I'm turning into one of them." Korensky replied

"Speaking about which, do you still have that injector and those vials?" Fergus asked him

"Right here, never dropped them." He replied as he held up the case containing the injectors and vials of dragon DNA

"Then let's make it a tree and get the frick out of here!" Fergus shouted

"Wait wait, if he's turning into dragon, then how is he still awake?!" Barnes asked

"We don't know." Korensky replied, "Dear fucking Isotx, I'm burning up!"

Korensky undid the first few buttons of his uniform

"Then we need to get him to the _Patton_ ASAP!" Barnes said to Erwin telepathically

"I agree, we're spending too much time goof around! Let's get out of here!" He replied, "I know how to get back to the surface from here! Follow me!"

The group followed Erwin out of the chamber while on the other end of the facility, Yates had joined a group of Blackwater troopers as they went toward a helipad where Yates' personal helicopter was waiting for them

"We've got some fighters in the air, they won't do much, but they'll keep the Isotxians and Coalition busy while we fly away!" One of the Blackwater Troopers shouted to Yates

"Good!" He replied before a Deadly Nadder and Monstrous Nightmare with APMSF Stormtroopers riding on them descended on him and the Blackwater troopers

"Dragons!" One of the Blackwater Troopers shouted as the Deadly Nadder shot out its spines at them, forcing them to scatter while the Monstrous Nightmare landed on the helipad and used its kletonium armor to destroy the rotor blades before pushing the helicopter off of the helipad and destroying it while the APMSF Stormtroopers riding it dismounted and began firing down at the Blackwater Troopers escorting Yates

"SON OF A BITCH!" Yates shouted as the Monstrous Nightmare crawled down from the helipad and ignited the salvia that it had coated its armor with while the Deadly Nadder landed behind them and breathed it out it's magnesium fire, killing several of the troopers while the APMSF Stormtroopers riding including one carrying a minigun jumped off her before they started firing at the remaining troopers and Yates, who the Monstrous Nightmare was coming after

"I've been waiting for this for a long time…" The Monstrous Nightmare said to Yates telepathically

"That voice…Mr. Yolanda?!" He replied

"The name isn't Yolanda! It's Calvin Karlson you stupid son of a bitch!" The Monstrous Nightmare said to him while the APMSF Stormtrooper with the minigun gunned down the remaining Blackwater troopers

"But how is this possible?! Casca said he broke your wings and left you for dead in a ravine back on Berk!" Yates shouted as he backed away from Calvin before two of the APMSF Stormtroopers grabbed him and lifted him up onto his feet and held him still as Calvin came toward him

"Do these wings look broken to you?" Calvin asked him telepathically when Yates noticed the scars on Calvin's wings, but didn't say anything while Emily came up behind him and lifted him up from the ground with her mouth

"I know you want to exact your vengeance on him and all, but we'll probably be better off taking him to the _Patton_ and letting the proper authorities handle him because he might have information we want to hear." Emily said to Calvin telepathically, "Plus you're not the only one wanting some revenge."

Calvin snorted and looked at Yates

"You're lucky she was here to stop me." Calvin said to him telepathically when an exoskeleton armed with a assault cannon lumbered out a nearby hangar

"What the fuck is that!?" Hazel screamed as the Exoskeleton's Operator turned to face them with the assault cannon while Blackwater troopers ran out of the hangar behind it

"Who cares?! Take it out!" Eddie shouted while another exoskeleton followed the Blackwater troopers

"Take care of the stormtroopers! We'll take the dragons!" One of the Exoskeleton Operators shouted to the Blackwater Troopers while the pulse rifle and minigun fire from Echo Squad harmlessly struck his exoskeleton

"Emily! Take Yates and get him to the Patton and if you run into the others tell them to get over here!" Calvin shouted to Emily

"NO! I am not going to lose you again!" She replied before she threw Yates into a nearby dumpster that the top closed on while the first exoskeleton began to fire its assault cannon

"Eat lead you scaly mother fuckers!" The Exoskeleton's Operator shouted as Calvin and Emily ran into whatever cover they could find while the other exoskeleton began to fire its assault cannon

"Please tell me you have a plan!" Emily shouted at Calvin as the 20mm rounds that the assault cannons were firing slowly chewed away the cargo container they were hiding behind

"Do I look like I have a plan?!" Calvin asked her, "This is the first time I've ran into these!"

"Then contact the others and see if they know what to do?!" She asked him

Calvin nodded

"Mom?! Dad, can you hear me?! Me and Emily are in some really big trouble over here!" Calvin shouted to his mom and dad over his translation collar's radio

"Where are you?!" Karlson replied

"We're next to some helipad begin attacked by two mercs in mechanized armored suits!" Calvin shouted as he and Emily dashed to another cargo container, "And they're carrying some big-ass mother fucking guns!"

Emily poked her head around the end of the supply container and shot her fire at one of the exoskeletons, doing no damage to it

"My fire isn't working on them!" Emily screamed as she pulled her head back as the exoskeleton started to fire at her

"We're on our way! Hold tight!" Karlson shouted

"Emily you remember when I said I had a question I wanted to ask you?" Calvin asked Emily

"Now is not the time Calvin!" She replied

"Emily this maybe our last moments together!" Calvin said to her

"Okay, what is it?!" She asked him

"Emily Wensky, will you marry me?!" He replied

"WHAT?! YOU ASK ME THIS NOW WHEN WE'RE POSSIBLY ABOUT TO DIE?!" Emily screamed before one of the exoskeletons grabbed a hold of Calvin's tail and pulled him back around the cargo container before its operator ripped off his helmet and the armor plating covering his neck before wrapping the exoskeleton's arm around it and pulling out a combat knife with the other hand

"That head of yours' will look really nice on my wall!" The Exoskeleton Operator said as he held the knife to Calvin's neck while the post-human Monstrous Nightmare tried to break free of its hold while was grabbed by the other exoskeleton and faced toward Calvin

"Calvin!" Emily screamed before Eddie shot the Exoskeleton holding Calvin with a high explosive shell from the grenade launcher mounted beneath the barrel of his pulse rifle, forcing it to release Calvin while Jordan did the same to the one holding Emily, freeing her while the first Exoskeleton recovered and sprinted toward Eddie as he tried to reload and grabbed him

"You're going to regret that little man!" The Exoskeleton Operator said as he began to crush Eddie with his suit's hand when Eddie pulled out a frag grenade and pulled the pin out with his thumb

"You first!" Eddie shouted, "FOR THE UNION!"

"EDDIE!" Calvin shouted before the grenade exploded, killing Eddie and destroying the hand that the exoskeleton had been holding him with while the shockwave from the blast severely weakened the bulletproof glass protecting its Operator when Karlson and Tesla attacked the other Exoskeleton while Calvin charged at the first one

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Calvin shouted as he jumped onto the Exoskeleton and smashed through the glass, ripping the Operator out of his cockpit and throwing him to the ground while the rest of Echo Squad, Emily, and the other post-human dragons as they landed watched while Calvin stepped down from the disabled exoskeleton and threateningly approached it's operator, who tried to crawl away from Calvin before he pinned him to the ground using the claws on his right wing

"Please! Please! Don't kill me!" The Operator screamed as Calvin looked down at him, his rage evident in his eyes as flammable gel became to spill out from the sides of his mouth

"You should've thought about that before you tried to cut my head off!" Calvin roared, "And now one of my friends are dead because of you!"

Calvin took a deep breath as he prepared to breathe fire, but Karlson grabbed him by his translation collar and yanked him back

"It isn't worth it Calvin! Killing him will make you just as bad as they are!" Karlson shouted to Calvin with his translation collar as he pulled his son away from the Exoskeleton Operator while Katrina grabbed him by the collar and dragged him behind one of the hangars with the rest of Echo Squad following them before Calvin broke down and started crying

"He died because he saved me!" Calvin cried as Karlson released his translation collar and place his right wing on his son's back

"It's okay Calvin…it's okay…" Karlson said to him while Tesla crawled over to them

"Just when things were starting to look up for him." She said to Karlson telepathically

"He'll get over it." He replied when Emily came over to them

"Calvin…Calvin…are you okay?" Emily asked Calvin, who looked up at her

"Do I look okay?!" He asked her before he plopped his head down and continued crying while Emily laid down and curled up next to his neck, laying her head down next to his

"So do you still want to get married?" Emily asked him telepathically, "Because the answer is defiantly yes."

Calvin looked at Emily and smiled

"See told you he'll get over it!" Karlson said to Tesla telepathically as Calvin did his best to curl up around Emily

"So should we tell them?" Calvin asked Emily

"If you want to, you can." She replied

"Tell us what?" Wensky asked them as he and Katie approached

"Mom, dad, Mr. and Mrs. Wensky, me and Emily have decided that we're going to get married." Calvin replied

Tesla and Katie screamed in excitement while Karlson and Wensky laughed

"Also I threw that bastard Cameron Yates into that dumpster over there." Emily said to them as she motioned to the dumpster that Yates was inside of

Karlson snorted

"One of you grab that fucking jack ass and get back to the _Patton_, this isn't a place where a young couple-to-be like you should be." He said to them, "Don't worry about us, we've got a job to finish."

Calvin nodded as he stood while Emily ran to the dumpster and burned a hole through the side with her fire before reaching into it and pulling out Yates with her mouth and taking off Calvin as Yates screamed

"Well Mr. Karlson it looks like we're going to be in-laws." Wensky said to Karlson telepathically

"It's not like we didn't see it coming." He replied, "Now come on, let's finish this battle so we can celebrate!"


	18. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: The End of the Beginning – Part One

**Gene Corp HQ; The Alps **

**Task Force Therian and Isotxian Strike Force **

**March 23****rd****, 2246 – 1045 Hours **

The sounds of gunfire and explosions were echoing all across the depths of the Gene Corp Facility as Barnes, Catherine, and Margaret helped Reaper onto the cargo elevator while Fergus, Erwin, and Korensky held off the pursuing Gene Corp Security Guards and Blackwater Troopers

"Come on! Hurry up!" Margaret screamed to Erwin as he, Fergus, and Korensky slowly fell back onto the elevator as she pulled the level that started it up and began to make it climb upward to the surface

"Are we sure this goes all the way to the surface?!" Barnes asked Erwin as he, Fergus, and Korensky reloaded their weapons

"I sure hope it does!" Erwin replied as a large external explosion shook the elevator shaft

"Jesus Christ!" Barnes shouted while Erwin grabbed his radio and extended the attenna

"_Annihilator_, hold your damn fire, we're still inside the facility!" Erwin shouted to the captain of the _Annihilator _over the radio

"That wasn't us general, it was one of the American airships that just arrived!" He replied

"Well tell them to hold their damn fire until we're out of her-!" Erwin shouted before another large external explosion shook the elevator shaft and made the elevator stop climbing

"Awww shite please tell me this bloody god damn thing isn't stuck!" Fergus shouted as Margaret tried to pull the level in an attempt to get the elevator to start going up again

"I'm afraid it is!" Margaret shouted to him while Barnes looked up

"Then I guess we're going to fly the rest of the way!" Barnes shouted

"What?!" Catherine screamed, "We don't even know how to fly yet and your dad might not be able to handle it right now!"

"Just leave me then, I can handle myself!" Reaper shouted

"NO! I lost you once already and I am NOT going to lose you again!" Catherine replied

Barnes sighed

"I'll go try to find the others, the rest of you stay here and try to see if you can get this thing going again!" He said to the others as he extended out his wings

"Hold on there lad! We'll come with you, we need to get him to one of your doctors!" Fergus said to Barnes, who nodded

"Here Miss Reaper I'll think you'll be needing this more than me right now!" Korensky shouted to Margaret as he threw his M48 to her

"Thank you!" She replied as Korensky and Fergus climbed onto Barnes

"Hold on tight, this might be a bit bumpy!" Barnes said to Fergus telepathically as he and Korensky held onto to whatever they could on Barnes' back before he took up the shaft while Erwin and Margaret stayed behind with Reaper and Catherine, who were laying on the floor of the elevator

"Man I haven't felt this bad in a long time." Reaper said to himself

"Well you got shot up and then thrown into a wall by a guy into an exosuit, you should be feeling like shit right." Catherine said to him

"Thank you that makes me feel a lot better." He replied

Catherine scooted closer to Reaper's side

"Can you do something with those spines?" He asked her

Catherine looked back at the spines on her back, which were as sharp as needles

"Don't know, let me try though." She said to him before she lowered the spines on her back, allowing Reaper to place his wing over her and dragged her closer to him

"I cannot describe how good it feels to have you back at my side again after so many years." Reaper said to Catherine

"I can't either." She replied as she brushed the side of her face against Reaper's

"If you two are going to start making out, at least wait until we're out of here!" Erwin shouted at them

"Oh shut up, you're not the one who's gotten his dead wife back!" Reaper said to him telepathically as Catherine curled up next to him and started to purr

"Let them have their moment." Margaret said to Erwin as she and he continued to try getting the elevator to start working again

"Looks like's it's not getting power, that explosion must have severed or shorted out the power source." He said to her against looking at the elevator's mechanisms

"Think that energy sword of yours could get it working again?" She asked him

"Doubt it, it doesn't generate that much electricity." He replied

"Damn." Margaret said to him, "So I guess we're stuck here then unless they learn how to breathe out electricity."

Margaret and Erwin looked back at Reaper and Catherine who were both already asleep before they sat down on the elevator floor

"Well this sucks ass." Erwin said to Margaret, "Your parents both got turned into Skrills and my brothers got turned into Night Furies and now we're stuck on this damn thing while a battle is raging on outside."

"So are you and your brothers close?" Margaret asked him

"Yeah, we've been watching each other's backs as far as I can remember." He replied, "But then again, that might have been because of the world we were raised in. We were born and spent most of our childhoods in our dad's bunker in the hills of Scotland before the whole 'global offensive' started."

"When you were born?" Margaret asked him

"August 1986 along with my sister, Julie." He replied

"You're a twin?!" Margaret asked him

"Fraternal twins, she the division's intelligence officer." He replied, "What about you? How well did you and your dimension's version of Barnes get along?"

"We had our ups and downs, but we got along well most of the time." Margaret said to him before she sighed, "But back then I did some things I'm not really proud of."

"Like what?" Erwin asked her as he took out his flask and unscrewed the top before he started to take a drink out of it

"Are you familiar with…'exotic dancing'?" She asked him

Erwin spurted out his alcohol and started coughing

"I guess so…" Margaret said

"You used to be a stripper?!" He asked her, keeping his voice low enough not to wake her parents

"Yeah…" She replied

"Do they know?" Erwin asked her

"No, but Barnes did." She replied

"How'd he find out?" Erwin asked her

"One of his pilot buddies took him to the place I worked while I was doing one of my…'routines'." She replied, "But I'll give this to him, he kept his cool until I realized he was there, it was because of that episode I quit."

"Why were you doing it? I'd figured your parents would get paid en-" Erwin said before Margaret interrupted

"I didn't want to be the daughter who was always asking her parents for money and I didn't have much luck getting a job anywhere else…so I got desperate." She replied, "After that Barnes started lending me money for a while before he got me a job working at the pilot's bar on the airbase he was stationed at."

Margaret started to cry

"And that Barnes doesn't know any of this." She said to Erwin as she sobbed

Erwin wrapped his arm around Margaret and brought her closer to him

"I've done worst things…trust me." He said to her

"That's because you're a soldier." She replied

"True…except there was this one time I got drunk so bad I kissed my sister, who was also so drunk off her ass that she kissed me back, but luckily our brothers were there to stop it from going any further." Erwin said to her

Margaret started laughing

"Me and Barnes did that once too actually, except it was our friends who stopped us." She said to him, "That's actually about the only time I can say I kissed a boy, unfortunately."

"Same here, I never had much luck getting girls to date me because the only girl my age that was always around was my sister." He replied

"Didn't you go to high school or anything?!" Margaret asked him

"Nah, me and my siblings were home schooled, the only schools we attended was the officer's academy and boot camp." He replied, "It was too dangerous because the Eastern Imperials would've no doubly targeted whatever school we attended for bombing or raids."

"Damn…" Margaret said as she slid closer to Erwin

"In fact you're the only girl I've really talked outside of work…well besides maybe the German girls that mob me and my brothers every time we're on leave and we go into some town that hasn't been abandoned or destroyed by the war." He replied

"I was beginning to wonder if even you had a life outside the military had at all." Margaret said to him

"I barely do." He replied, "I was born and raised in the military, most of the people I know are or were in the military. I was practically already in the military when I came out my mother's womb."

"Too much information…" Margaret replied a she rested her head on Erwin's shoulder

Erwin looked at her

"You know for somebody who used to take their clothes off for money, you're not that bad." He said to her

"You're not that bad either for somebody who's known nothing but military service and war their entire life." She replied

"So if we get out of this alive…do you want to go out?" Erwin asked her

"Are you asking me to go on a date with you General?" She asked

"Uhhhh…sort of?" Erwin replied

"Of course, I kind of owe you for helping me save my parents anyway. But it'll be nothing more than a date." She said to him

"Nothing wrong with that." He replied before a large hole was blasted through the right side of the shaft wall next to the elevator, waking both Reaper and Catherine

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Catherine shouted as an Isotxian Engineer wearing a hardhat with a flashlight on it walked through the hole

"Sorry about that!" The Engineer shouted down at them

"ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED?!" Erwin shouted at him as he and Margaret stood up, "You're lucky you didn't sending us falling to our deaths!"

"Sorry general." The Engineer replied as Karlson and Tesla stuck their heads through the hole

"You guys ready to get out of here?" Karlson asked them with his translation collar

"Hell yeah!" Reaper replied as Catherine helped him up onto his feet

"What happened to you?" Karlson asked Reaper

"Well let's see I've been frozen for almost year, unfrozen and chained up to the point I could barely move, shot up by two Blackwater troopers, and then to top it off I got thrown into a wall by a Blackwater trooper in an exosuit." He replied

"And you're still kicking…imagine that." Tesla said to him

"This species is durable as fuck that's for sure." He replied

"Can we please just get him to a doctor?!" Catherine asked them

"We've got a medevac VTOL outside, right this way." Karlson replied as Catherine helped Reaper through the hole while Margaret and Erwin followed, the latter of which was surprised to see his brothers waiting for him, both wearing powered battle armor and translation collars provided to them by Task Force Therian and saddles

"What are you two doing here? I thought I told you to stay on the _Annihilation_?" Erwin asked them

"You thought we were just going to stand aside and let you have all the fun?! Hell no, we had a score to settle!" Manfred replied with his translation collar, "But everything's good now, the American airship fleet plastered everything in sight after they arrived and all that's left is cleanup!"

"So the battle's over?" Erwin asked him

"Just about besides a few hold-outs on the lower levels." Harrison replied with his translation collar, "But I think we'd best leave that to the infantry to clear out."

"So what happens now then?" Margaret asked Karlson, "Do we win the war now?"

Karlson made a shrug-like motion with his wings

"We don't know yet, the Romans are still fighting and a majority of Gene Corp's operations are no doubly going to keep running until we finally shut them down for good." He said to her with his translation collar, "In my experiences Gene Corp is like a fucking cockroach, it's going to keep kicking until somebody finally brings their foot down on it."

"Then it continues." Erwin replied, "So much for a quick end to the war."

"But hey! At least we captured Yates and got the Reapers back!" Karlson said to him with his translation

"Who captured Yates?!" Margaret asked him

"My son and his betrothed." He replied with his translation collar, "But unfortunately Gene Corp will probably grow another head in his place like he did when we took out MacTavish."

"Come on let's get out of here!" Manfred said to them with his translation collar

"I agree, lets blow this fucking joint." Erwin replied as he started to climb onto Manfred's saddle while Margaret climbed onto Harrison's

"Follow me, because this place is easy to get lost it." Karlson said to them with his translation collar

**USAS **_**Patton **_**– Cargo Bay **

**1145 Hours **

After landing and handing Yates over to the APMSF, Calvin and Emily had been quick to remove their armor and translation collars so they could lay down together in the cargo bay

"I thought I would never be able to do this again." Emily said to Calvin telepathically

"Me too." He replied

"How are you holding up?" Emily asked him

"Fine." Calvin replied as he looked around the cargo bay and saw no sign of Sheva, "I wonder where my sister went?"

"She said something about going to the medical bay to get something checked out before we left." Emily said to him

"Oh." Calvin replied, "I wonder why, she appeared to be okay."

"Who knows?" She replied

Meanwhile; Sheva was the in the Medical Bay with one of the doctors as he used his security keycard to unlock a small storage unit

"We placed all of Sergeant Henderson's belongings along with his equipment in here." The Doctor said to Sheva as he opened the storage unit, "So what are you looking for?"

"Contact information, he told me that he wanted me to contact his family to tell them that he was okay." Sheva replied telepathically

"Oh." The Doctor said as he pulled out Henderson's old KA-BAR knife which the doctor pulled out of its sheath and revealed that it still had dried blood on its blade from when Henderson had stabbed the Roman Stormcutter in the throat and unknowingly infected himself with the nanites that turned him into a Stormcutter

"So I guess that's the knife that he stabbed the Stormcutter with?" Sheva asked him telepathically

"What was your first clue?" He asked her

"Are the nanites in that blood still active?" She asked telepathically

"Doubt it, they need to be stored in cold temperatures." The Doctor replied as he placed the knife back in its sheath and pulled out Henderson's M887 Assault Rifle with its grenade launcher attachment still intact, but both it and the rifle were unloaded, "Surprised that's even in there, thought the armory would've taken it."

The Doctor placed the M887 down on the ground and then pulled out the blouse of Henderson's combat utility uniform and began to check its pockets

"You know while they were here, I heard the other Marines talk a lot about this Henderson, they said he was severely under-ranked and didn't get a lot of credit for what he did on the battlefield." The Doctor said to Sheva

"He didn't say anything about this to me." She said to him telepathically

"Probably because it wasn't important since you were locked in a cell." He replied when placed down Henderson's blouse and pulled the trousers and began to check its pockets and found his wallet, "Here we go!"

The Doctor opened up the wallet and a picture of Henderson in civilian clothing with his daughter on a beach fell onto the floor

"That must be Ellie…" Sheva thought to herself as she looked at the picture while the Doctor found nothing in Henderson's wallet before checking the other pockets on his trouser and found a video phone with a cracked screen

"Let's hope that memory bank in this thing is still intact." The Doctor said as he pressed down on the phone's power button and successfully turned it on, "Thank god! Now where's the call history?"

"It might be encrypted so people can't use it to locate a Marine's family." Sheva said to him

"Yeah you're probably right, we're going to get a technician to look at it then." He replied before putting the phone down with the rest of Henderson's belongings and looking into the storage unit, "Well that's all of it."

"So do the other Marines say anything else about Henderson?" Sheva asked him telepathically

"Besides that fact that he hated every inch of his uncle, not much else. But they all seemed to like him though and his Platoon Commander seemed rather pissed off when he was told he got turned into a dragon and captured." He replied

"Wait?! His Platoon commander survived?!" Sheva asked him telepathically

"Yeah they found him floating on a piece of debris offshore a few hours after Berk was declared secured by General Conrad." He replied, "He should still be with his old unit in the 2nd Marine Division, which I believe is still stationed in the Barbaric Archipelago on Iceland."

"Maybe I should go talk to him…" Sheva thought to herself

"Well thank you doc, be sure to get that video phone thing checked out by a technician for me." She said to the Doctor telepathically

"You're welcome ma'am." He replied as he started to place Henderson's belongings except the video phone into the storage unit and looked at the picture, "You want to keep the picture?"

"I can't…no hands." Sheva replied telepathically

"Oh…" The Doctor said as he picked up the picture and put in back in the wallet which he placed back into the supply unit before closing it, "You know I listened to his uncle on the radio once before he got kicked out of the U.S and I saw why Henderson would hate him, he sounds and act like a fucking prick."

"Henderson only talked about his uncle to me once and he basically said the same thing." She replied telepathically


	19. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen: The Beginning of the End – Part Two

**USAS **_**Patton **_**– Hangar Bay **

**Task Force Therian**

**March 23****rd****, 2246 – 1156 Hours **

Meanwhile in the Hangar Bay; The Mallard Heavy VTOL carrying Reaper and Catherine flew into the hangar bay before it turned around and landed while the post-human dragons including Manfred and Harrison followed it in as the VTOL's pilots shut off its engines and dropped the rear offloading ramp so Reaper, Catherine, and the APMSF Medics with them could get off

"Okay Reaper just take it easy, we're almost there!" Catherine said to Reaper

"I can see that!" He replied before he grunted as one of the Medics pulled a bullet out of his back while Calvin and Emily poked their heads out of the cargo bay

"Get him into the cargo bay, we can finish treating him in there!" One of the Medics shouted while Barnes and Samantha unlocked their armor and shook it off their bodies while their children did the same before following Reaper and Catherine into the cargo bay as Calvin and Emily watched the two Skrills be escorted in by the APMSF Medics followed by Barnes, Samantha, and their grandchildren

"Calvin? Is that you?" Reaper asked Calvin, who nodded as he tried to hide his easiness while he spoke

"Hi General."

Reaper sighed and shook his head disappointingly as Catherine helped him lay down in the corner across from Calvin and Emily

"Calvin come over here." Reaper said to Calvin, who hesitantly got up and approached Reaper as Catherine laid down next to him

"Oh wow he's much scarier looking up close." Catherine said to Reaper telepathically

"He's a Monstrous Nightmare, he's supposed to be intimidating." He replied

"Yes sir?" Calvin asked him

"Look I just want to make it clear, that I hold no hard feelings about what happened back on Berk." He replied, "Plus Catherine told me that you haven't had it easy either."

Calvin nodded

"But that also means we also hold the same grudges as well." Reaper said to him, "Because I'm sure you'd like tear into Casca as much as I do."

Calvin nodded again, this time more excitedly

"Just what I wanted to see." Reaper said to him, "It's good to see you again and in on…piece."

Reaper noticed the large scars on Calvin's wings

"It's the scars is it?" Calvin asked him

"Yeah Barnes mentioned you had have reconstruction surgery on your wings, but I never imagined the scars from it would be that big." He replied, "Do they hurt or anything?"

"No, but they do remind me of what happened in that ravine every time I look at them." Calvin said as he looked at the scar on his right wing, "Fucking Casca, first he takes you guys and then breaks my wings and leaves me for dead."

Emily joined Calvin at his side

"It wasn't easy for us either, they stuck us all in the same holding chamber with the only thing they gave us to eat was this tasteless nutritional cream crap and we didn't say the light of day until he." She said to Reaper as she motioned to Calvin

"Yeah Erwin told us about your little adventure, hopefully it won't be long before we find and get the others out of that prison as well…any idea where it is?" He asked Calvin before he grunted as one of the Medics pulled a bullet out from his back

"No." He replied, "But my dad said we could my calls I made to Erwin to locate it."

"Well that's good." Reaper said, "On the way here your father also said you had some big news to tell us."

Calvin and Emily smiled

"What? He didn't say anything about that to me!" Barnes shouted, "What is it?"

"We've designed to uhhhh…'tie the knot' as you say?" Calvin replied

"You're getting married?!" Catherine screamed

"Did I ever mention to you that your mother was a wedding planner in her civilian life?" Reaper said to Barnes, "You're still a wedding planner right?"

"Yeah!" Catherine replied as she stood up, "But I never planned one for dragons though, so this will be interesting!"

"Well I'm planning to get one of those transformation devices he has." Emily said to her while Sheva came into the cargo bay with both Tesla and Karlson

"So you and Henderson kissed?" Karlson asked Sheva

"Yes…and we kissed twice, I kissed him first and then he kissed me before the gas finally took us down." She replied, "He also tried to protect me when Calvin came and got shocked several times and had a gun pointed at his head by the Blackwater Officer."

"Shit…" Karlson thought to himself

"So what are we going to do?" Sheva asked him

"We? You mean _us_, we're going to find Henderson and the others and save them." He replied, "Which hopefully will be soon once we lock onto the signals that Calvin's radio sent when he contacted Erwin while you still at the prison. Any idea if they were holding anybody else there?"

Sheva shook her head

"They never took us out of cell unless we were unconscious." She said to him, "They also knocked us out in preparation for Calvin's arrival as well, but I wouldn't doubt that they have other people and dragons there."

"Smart bastards." Karlson thought to himself

"Wait do you think the Isotxians might be able to get something out from the black boxes and pilots of the plane they used to transport us to the air carrier?" Sheva asked him

"Yeah…never thought about it." He replied as Margaret came into the cargo bay to check on her parents, "In fact speaking about the Isotxians, where the hell is Erwin?"

Meanwhile in the Mess Hall, Fergus was sitting a at table by himself as he waited for Korensky to finish his transformation into a Deadly Nadder in the Medical Bay when Erwin sat down with him

"So how's the corporal?" Erwin asked him

"Last time I checked the docs were saying that he's doing well and everything is going as it should with his transformation." He replied

"This war is certainly a whole new animal compared to the one we were already fighting." Erwin said to him

"Any word from your dad?" Fergus asked him

"No, I doubt he even knows what's happened to Manfred and Harrison yet." He replied, "And I'd hate to be the poor ensign who has to tell him it."

"So what now?" Fergus asked Erwin, who shrugged

"The Field Marshal told us to stay with Task Force Therian until he gives us further instruction, which I'm hoping isn't for a while because I would like to take a damn break." He replied

"You and me both lad." Fergus said when an APMSF Officer came into the Mess Hall looking for Erwin

"Are you Major General Schnitter?" The APMSF Officer asked Erwin

"Who's asking?" He replied

"General Karlson." The APMSF Officer Said to him

Erwin sighed and rolled his eyes

"What does he want?" Erwin asked him

"He wants to know if you Isotxians have gotten anything from the black boxes and pilots of that plane you captured when his son arrived on your air carrier." He replied

"What's a black box?" Erwin asked him

"Oh yeah I forgot, you guys don't know what a fucking computer is." He replied

"Are we supposed to be insulted by that?" Fergus asked him

"What?! No!" He replied, "Black boxes are flight data recorders, it could tell us where the prison they're keeping the other prisoners that Emily and Sheva were being held with at!"

"Then no, we haven't gotten anything from it because we don't know what a 'flight data recorder' is or what looks like!" Erwin said to him

"Do you still have the plane then?" He asked him

Erwin shrugged

"Ask the Airship Corps not me." He replied

"Well can't you contact that air carrier and find out?!" The APMSF Officer asked him

Erwin sighed

"So much for having a break from the damn war." He thought to himself as he pulled out his radio and extended out its antenna

"IAS _Chicago_, this is Major General Erwin Schnitter the 31st again, do you read me over?" Erwin said to the IAS _Chicago_

"This is the IAS _Chicago_, we read you loud and clear Major General." The _Chicago_'s Communications Officer replied

"Do you still have that Gene Corp cargo plane that Mr. Karlson and his friends arrived on?" Erwin asked him

"Uhhh let me check…" He replied, "May I ask why you're asking about it?"

"It's not me asking for it, it's the Americans, they're looking for something called a black box on it." Erwin said to him

"Roger that." The Communications Officer replied, "I'm patching your through to the Captain, please hold."

Erwin sighed

"This is the Captain speaking." The Captain of the IAS _Chicago_ said to Erwin

"Yeah hey it's me again. Do you still have that Gene Corp cargo plane aboard your ship that Mr. Karlson and his friends arrived on?" He asked him

"Actually yes do, I'm looking right at it." The Captain replied, "Any reason why you're asking?"

"The Americans want its flight data recorder thingy, they're calling it a black box." Erwin said to him

"What the hell is that and why do they want it?" He asked Erwin

"They think they might be able to locate that prison that Mr. Karlson went to with it." Erwin replied

"Well we're on course to rendezvous with Air Admiral Foch's fleet over the Danish Peninsula and I believe there is an American airship, the USAS _Cape…Something_." The Captain said to him

"That would be the USAS _Cape Girardeau._" The APMSF Officer replied, "And what's it doing with your airship fleet?"

"Who's that?" The Captain asked Erwin

"The APMSF Officer that's asking for the black box thingy, just hand the plane over to the _Cape Girardeau_ when you rendezvous with the fleet." Erwin replied

"Roger that." The Captain said to him, "Is that all?"

"Yeah that's all, Erwin Schnitter out." Erwin replied before he cut the transmission

"Thank you." The APMSF Officer said to him before he left while Erwin slouched down in his chair as an APM Officer approached him

"It never fucking ends." Erwin thought to himself as he sat up straight again

"What do you want?" Erwin asked the APM Officer

"One of your dropships just landed in our hangar bay, there's a woman looking for you." He replied

"That must be Julie." Erwin thought to himself as he stood up with Fergus

"I'm going to go check on Corporal Korensky again." Fergus said to Erwin as they parted away, "See you later Erwin."

"See you later too." He replied as he followed the APM Officer to the Hangar

**Cape Girardeau, MO – Coalition Verse **

**APM Command Bunker **

President Paxton and CIA Director Twones were listening to General Smict as he briefed them on the situation in Viking Verse Europe via hologram from his headquarters in Kansas City

"With Cameron Yates in custody and Blackwater Command effectively decapitated, Blackwater forces across the continent have been thrown into disarray probably along with Gene Corp's operations." Smict said to Twones and Paxton, "Leaving the Romans as the only sources of organized resistance against our forces and our allies'."

"What about the Isotxians?" Paxton asked him

"They're concentrating their efforts on pushing the remaining Roman and Blackwater forces out of the Danish peninsula, but I am for certain that they're going to uphold the ceasefire." He replied

Paxton nodded

"Good that means one less problem on our backs." He said to him, "What about the Blackwater and Roman forces in Scandinavia?"

"We don't know what they're up to at this point, but I doubt they're going to be a threat as we've neutralized the Roman Navy as a credible threat and hold total air superiority over the Baltic." Smict replied, "They're probably too busy dealing with that Drago Bludvist and his army of dragons, who has been wreaking havoc on their operations up there according to the Intel that Calvin Karlson recovered during his mission there."

"We should put a medal on him for that stunt." Twones said, "Have you acquired any additional information on Drago's plans from the dragon trappers that Therian captured?"

Smict laughed uneasily and the rubbed the back of his neck

"About those dragon trappers…" He said to him

"They escaped didn't they?" Twones asked him

"Uhhh they didn't escape, some of their fellow dragon trappers came and rescued them from the air base we were holding them at on Britannia, which was heavily under guarded thanks to the fact we had rush everything we had across the English Channel." He replied

"Son of a bitch!" Twones said to him, "Any idea where they went?!"

"No clue." Smict replied, "Probably somewhere up north though."

"God dammit." Twones said, "Have your forces made contact with Drago's Army?"

"Not at this time, but we have lost radio and radar contact with a few jets flying in the Northern Baltic, so that maybe them." Smict replied

"Thank you General Smict." Paxton said to him, "That is all."

Smict nodded before his hologram fizzled out

"You think the Romans are going to surrender now that Gene Corp is gone?" Paxton asked Twones

"Doubt it, I think they're going to keep fighting us to the bitter end." He replied, "In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Salvius takes over Gene Corp himself."

"Then I guess we'll keep fighting." Paxton said


	20. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen: The End of the Beginning – Part Three

**Constantinople – The new capital of the Roman Empire**

**Roman Military High Command**

**March 24****th****, 2246 – 0128 Hours **

Emperor Salvius stood at a table surrounded by his most trusted advisors, his best generals, and Aurelii Tiberius, the head of the Roman Secret Police, the Specialis Civis Securitas (Special National Security), stood behind Salvius

"My friends, we have been struck by a series of catastrophic events these past few days!" Salvius said to the others around the table, "Britannia and Hibernia have fallen to Coalition forces, our beloved city of Rome has been destroyed, we now face now two additional enemies, one of which's treachery have brought Gene Corp down its knees in a cowardly attack on its headquarters!"

"I say good riddance to Cameron Yates and his Gene Corp! He was always meddling in our affairs trying to control us and steer the Empire in the course he wanted it too!" One of Salvius' Advisors shouted, "I say we take advantage of Gene Corp's weakness to nationalize its properties and use its assets for our own use!"

Some of the Advisors and Generals shouted and hollered in agreement

"I agree! Gene Corp has brought nothing but disaster and shame to our beloved nation since the failure of its attack on the Barbaric Archipelago which started this horrific war!" One of the Generals shouted, "But that also brings up the subject of Blackwater, which does act as a separate entity from Gene Corp although it acts as its military and its forces are vital in our own campaigns against the Coalition and its allies!"

"Maybe we can persuade Blackwater to fight for the Empire?" One of the Advisors asked, "If Drago Bludvist can convince a few Blackwater divisions to fight for him, then why can't we do the same?"

"He has a point! Blackwater's forces are more than easily manipulated by promises of wealth and power while I'm sure the Specialis Civis Securitas can take care of any naysayers amongst their ranks!" Another Advisor replied, "What do you say Tiberius?"

"I will do what the emperor asks me too!" Tiberius replied

"Then it's decided! I thereby declare Gene Corp disbanded while its properties and assets are to be seized at once by our armed forces and nationalized while any willing Blackwater commanders and their forces will be paid generously if they chose to provide their services to the Empire!" Salvius shouted

**Task Force Therian Headquarters; The Isle of Berk **

**Task Force Therian **

**0220 Hours **

Calvin was in a hangar laying down and holding still while an Engineer upgraded the software on his transformation device while Emily, now wearing her own transformation device which had been installed on her translation collar, watched and waited

"So what does this upgrade do?" Calvin asked the Engineer installing the upgrade with his translation collar

"It greatly decreases the time you have to wait before you can change between forms and as an added benefit, it also allows you to chance between three forms now." The Engineer replied

"Three forms?" Calvin asked him with his translation collar

"Yeah we decided to take your concept a bit farther." He replied, "And you're soon to be father-in-law was more than happy to donate a scale for your third form."

"So I can turn into a Deadly Nadder now as well?" Calvin asked him with his translation collar which made Emily excited

"Hurry up doc, I want my fiancé back!" Emily said to the Doctor with her translation collar

"Hold your horses, I'm just about done!" He replied, "Plus I still need to insert the Deadly Nadder DNA!"

Emily sighed as Erwin, Margaret, and Julie appeared in their new dragon forms with their transformation devices installed on their new translation collars

"Wow you guys got transformation devices too?" Calvin asked them with his translation collar

"Yeah I got one because my entire family has been turned into dragons and they got theirs because their brothers got turned into Night Furies." Margaret, who was a Skrill, replied

"Then why is he a Skrill too?" Emily asked them while motioning to Erwin who was also a Skrill

"Because we're going on a date tomorrow.." Erwin replied

"Do your parents know?" Emily asked Margaret

"They do and they don't care because it's a one night stand." She replied

"So what are you doing to do on your date?" Emily asked them

"We're going to fly around and check out the sights and talk." Margaret replied

"Maybe we should go with you and make it a double date?" Emily asked her

Margaret looked at Erwin, who shrugged

"Sure." She said to her as the Engineer finished upgrading Calvin's transformation twice and injected the liquefied Deadly Nadder scale into its DNA bank before closing it up

"There we go all done!" The Engineer said as he rubbed his hands together while Calvin stood up, "Now try it out!"

"How do I turn into a Deadly Nadder?" Calvin asked him

"Just say 'Initiate Transformation, Deadly Nadder!'" He replied

Calvin nodded

"Initiate transformation, Deadly Nadder!" Calvin shouted to the transformation device which then activated

"Command received, initiating transformation process in five…four…three...two…one." The Device said it in usual electronic voice before the transformation process began, turning Calvin into a red, orange, and black Deadly Nadder

"Sweet, it even kept my scale colors!" Calvin replied as he checked out his new form before Emily nuzzled and licked him on the side of the face

"Do you guys want to be left alone?" Margaret asked them

"Yeah…" Calvin replied as he nuzzled and licked Emily back

"Come on guys, we'll go try to learn how to fly or something." Margaret said to Erwin and Julie who followed her out of the hangar with the Engineer

"Oh yeah by the way, you can now transform every two hours now." The Doctor said as he exited the hangar while Calvin and Emily rubbed their heads against each other

"So Calvin how much do you know about the autonomy of a Deadly Nadder?" Emily asked Calvin telepathically

"Enough to have kids if you want." He replied telepathically, "But maybe we should wait until after the wedding before we start thinking about creating a family and plus we don't know what the transformation process will do a pregnant woman or dragon."

"Good point." Emily said to him telepathically, "So I guess this will have to do for now."

"Yeah…" He replied

"So where did Sheva go to?" Emily asked him

"She went with my parents and Reaper to North Carolina to try contact Henderson's family." He replied

"Why did Reaper and your parents go?" Emily asked him

"I have no idea." He replied

**Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune; Near Jacksonville, North Carolina – Coalition Verse **

**0330 Hours **

When Sheva, her parents, and Reaper got off their plane at Camp Lejeune they were greeted by a battle-scarred USMC Officer from the 2nd Marine Division

"Second Lieutenant Samuel Woods I presume?" Sheva asked the Officer with her translation collar, who nodded

"That's me, you must be Sheva Karlson." He replied, "I was Henderson's platoon commander in the Archipelago Campaign and he was one of my best officers, even if some of my superiors disagree me."

"Yeah I've heard you've had problems getting him a commission or being promoted." Reaper said to him with his translation collar

"And you are…?" Samuel asked him

"Reaper." He replied telepathically

"OH SHIT and I thought you were scary when you were human!" Samuel said to him

"So do you know where Henderson's family is?" Sheva asked him with her translation collar

"Yes, they live in a small house on Top Sail Island that I helped Henderson buy after the First Gene Corp War since he never that god damn Medal of Honor I recommended him for." He replied

"Wait, wait, you recommended him for the Medal of Honor and he never got it?" Reaper asked him with his translation collar, "What did he do?"

"He saved my entire fucking platoon from being surrounded and destroyed by Blackwater and got himself captured, but he escaped from the POW Camp they had him in and made it back to our lines along with several others he freed." He replied

"He never told me about that!" Sheva said to him with her translation collar

"He doesn't like to talk much about his war experiences." Samuel replied, "I tried to convince him to go to the press about it, but he refused. If you want to see it, I have an entire book of all the medals and citations I recommended him for that he never got."

"Do you know why he never got them?" Reaper asked him with his translation collar

"He isn't very popular with my superiors for some reason, probably because of his fucking uncle!" He replied, "Sorry about my language…"

"It's alright, we've heard worse." Karlson said to him with his translation collar, "Why do you think it's his uncle's fault?"

"His uncle's radio show was very popular with some of the high-ranking officers on the base before you guys took it off the air when he fled to Europe and they ate his bullshit right up." He replied, "And they've been going after Henderson ever since he was stationed here, maybe you should pay them a visit?"

Reaper snorted

"Maybe I will, but first I want to help Sheva here contact Henderson's family because she promised him he would." He said to him with his translation

"Wait, you were with him?!" Samuel asked Sheva, who nodded

"He's the same species of dragon I am and he's the one who took care of me until my brother finally came and broke me out." She replied with her translation collar

"That defiantly sounds like him, always putting others before himself!" Samuel said to her, "Everybody besides the higher-ups liked him, people were always trying to get into his squad when a position in it opened up because they knew Henderson would keep them alive when shit went down. I guess he wanted to be a perfect role model for his daughter."

"So can take us to his family?" Tesla asked him with her translation collar

"Can you wait until later in the day? Because they're probably still asleep right now as it's a school night." He replied

Sheva nodded

"We can wait." She said to him with her translation collar, "When does school get out?"

"2:40ish." He replied

"Is there any place we can crash around here?" Karlson asked him with his translation collar, "Preferably where the '_higher-ups_' wouldn't see us?"

Samuel nodded

"The APM's section of the base, which is just a few miles to the West." He said as he motioned to the West

"Thank you and I ensure you that there will be a _thorough_ investigation into why Henderson has been having trouble getting those medals and promotions you recommended him for." Reaper replied with his translation collar as Karlson, Tesla, and Sheva took off toward the APM Section behind him

Samuel nodded

"Thank you sir, it's about time somebody did something about it." He said to him

Reaper nodded

"Tell the Karlsons to meet me back here when they want to go see Henderson's family." Samuel said to him

Reaper nodded again before he turned around and extended out his wings before taking off into the night sky after the Karlsons

"So are you seriously investigate why Henderson hasn't been getting those awards and promotions?" Sheva asked Reaper after he caught up to her and her parents

"Dead serious, nothing pisses me off more than disloyal officers." He replied

"So what exactly happened with Henderson's uncle that got him kicked out of the country?" Sheva asked him

"He called my wife a whore and said that the Republicans should've won the Second Civil War on his radio show." He replied, "And he didn't get kicked out of the country, he was banned from returning to it after he fled to Europe."

"What's his name?" Sheva asked him

"Martin." He replied, "But he's mostly bark and no bite, the man's a fucking coward when push comes to shove because as I said he fled the country like a pussy."

"What about his followers?" Sheva asked Reaper

"His 'followers' were mostly people that tuned in on his radio show to make fun of him and knew that too, which I guessed is what pushed him over the edge." He replied, "I was personally kind of surprised when Jayden helped us track him. Did Henderson ever tell you why he hated his uncle?"

"Not really, he mentioned something about him destroying his family when he was kid." Sheva said to him, "I have no idea what he meant though."

"Well maybe if it's bad enough, it'll get the Europeans to extradite his ass if he doesn't flee to the UAS or something." He replied

**USAS **_**Patton**_** – Medical Bay; Over the Isle of Berk **

Korensky regained consciousness inside a tank filled with blue fluid with two oxygen tubes stuck up his nostrils while he could see Fergus shouting angrily at an American Doctor on the other side of the tank's reinforced glass walls as he repeatedly jabbed at the doctor with his right index finger, but couldn't hear what either of them were saying

"Okay just remain calm…" Korensky thought to himself as he took his new tail and used it to tap on the glass tank wall to get Fergus' and the Doctor's attention, who both jumped when they heard the taps before the Doctor rushed to the control console for the tank and used it to lift its top up allowing Korensky to stand up and rise out from the acceleration fluid

"Bout time you woke up! I was beginning to get worried!" Fergus shouted to him while the Doctor climbed onto the catwalk that surrounded the tank and shined his penlight into Korensky's eyes to check their reactions to the light before turning it off and pulling out the oxygen tubes from Korensky's nostrils which made him sneeze out some of the fluid

"Open your mouth can you please?" The Doctor asked Korensky, who opened his mouth as wide as he could as the Doctor took his penlight and shined it in there

"Everything seems to be normal." He replied as he held his nose with his free hand, "Smells normal too."

"Then get him out of that damn tank then!" Fergus shouted to the Doctor as he climbed down from the catwalk and went back to the control console, telling it to the drain the acceleration fluid from the tank before lowering the tank walls and lifting up the catwalk so Korensky could jump down and shake off the remaining acceleration fluid on his body

"How do you feel Mr. Korensky?" The Doctor asked Korensky, "Just say something in your head like you're saying it to me."

"I feel kind of tipsy and a little bit dizzy." He replied telepathically, "Is this normal?"

"Yes." The Doctor said to him

"What did he say?" Fergus asked him

"After a person comes out of the transformation process, his body is left in a weakened state." He replied, "But he'll okay after a few days of rest. Take him to the hangar bay, the other post-humans will help you take care of him and guide him through his first steps."

"Well Korensky looks like we're going for a little walk." Fergus said to Korensky

"Yeah our 'little' walks always end so well for me." He replied telepathically

"Hey at least you're not dead." Fergus said to him

"True." He replied telepathically as they walked out of the room and into the main medical bay before going into the corridor and toward the hangar, "So who's going to explain this to this my dad?"

"I guess I will since Erwin already has to explain why his brothers got turned into Night Furies." Fergus said to him

"Where is Erwin anyway?" He asked him telepathically

"Well he got one of those transformation devices that Mr. Karlson had, so he's probably one of the beasts as well right now." He replied

Meanwhile on Berk, Erwin was walking with Margaret through the Hairy Hooligan Village

"You seem be getting to the hang of this Margaret." Erwin said to Margaret

"You too." She replied, "Now only if we could figure out how to breathe out the lighting, I can never get big enough charge going."

"Me neither." Erwin replied, "And as it seems, your mother and father can't either."

"Maybe our bodies aren't generating enough electricity by themselves? Maybe we need be charged by something in order to do it?" Margaret said to him

"Like a battery?" He asked her

"Yeah like a battery." She replied

"We'll have to ask that one fat Viking who knows everything about dragons, he might be able to tell us something." Erwin said to her before Julie contacted him on his translation collar

"Erwin!? Where are you?!" She asked him

"I'm walking with Margaret, what's going on?" He replied with his translation collar

"You need to come to the _Patton_'s hangar bay, like _now_." Julie said to him

Erwin sighed

"I'll come with you." Margaret said to him before they both took off toward the _Patton_ which was hovering offshore and landed in its hangar bay where Erwin found Julie and both his brothers waiting for him along with two other people that Erwin knew

"Oh shit…" Erwin said as Margaret landed behind him

"What is it?" She asked him

"It's my parents." He replied when his father, Field Marshal Erwin Schnitter the 30th and his mother, Maria Schnitter noticed him and Margaret

"Hi mom…hi dad." Erwin said through his translation collar

"I am so many definitions of _fucking screwed _right now." Erwin thought to himself

"If you want to fly off right now, I'll cover you." Margaret said to him

"Erwin?! Is that you?!" Maria asked him

"Yeah mom it's me." He replied as he looked down at the ground, not even realizing that his mother and father were looking at Margaret

"And who are you?" Erwin Sr. asked Margaret

"I'm Margaret Reaper…I'm his girlfriend." She replied

"What?" Erwin thought to himself as he looked up at Margaret

"Just play along." She said to him telepathically as she cuddled close to him while she folded her back spines down so Erwin can place his wing around her back

"Okay I'm liking this more than I thought I would." Margaret thought to herself

"So I guess you did this for her then?" Erwin Sr. asked Erwin, who nodded

"Yes I did." He replied with his translation collar while his brothers and Julie gave him strange looks, but played along, "But don't unlike Manfred and Harrison, we can change back whenever we want to using the trans-?"

"Transformation Devices? We already know about those." Erwin Sr. said to him while Catherine came out of the cargo bay and stretched before she saw Margaret and Erwin

"What are you two doing?" She asked her daughter telepathically

"I'm pretending to be his girlfriend for his parents!" She replied telepathically

Catherine nodded

"So you must be Mr. and Mrs. Schnitter." She said to Erwin's parents with her translation collar, who turned to look at her, "I'm Catherine Reaper, Margaret's mother."

"I can see that, she looks just like you." Julie said to her

"So what brings you here?" Erwin asked his dad with his translation collar

"Not much was going on in Europe right now so we decided to come check on you guys." He replied, "So can you breathe fire?"

"No our species breathes out lighting." Erwin said to him with his translation collar

"It does? How?" He asked him

"We don't know, none of us have been able to figure that out." He replied with his translation collar

"So where's your father?" Julie asked Margaret

"He's gone back to his home world to attend to some business." She replied with her translation collar

"I bet you two are tired from your long trip here, do you want to get some rest?" Catherine asked Julie and Erwin Sr.

"Actually yes we would." Erwin Sr. replied as Fergus and Korensky came into the hangar bay

"Oh bloody hell!" Fergus shouted when he saw Erwin Sr. and Maria

"Captain?" Erwin Sr. said to Fergus before looking at Korensky, who gave him his best smile

"I'm guessing this is Corporal Korensky?" Erwin Sr. asked

Korensky and Fergus nodded

"It's an honor to be in your presence Mr. and Mrs. Schnitter." Korensky said to Erwin Sr. telepathically as he bowed his head

Erwin Sr. nodded

"Your father wasn't pleased to hear about the news about your transformation, which has made him more than happy to sign the document that going to dedicate our nation to winning this war." He said to Korensky

Korensky looked up at him

"You've heard from my dad?" He asked Erwin Sr. telepathically

"He's in the Coalition Verse as we speak getting ready to the foresaid document." He replied, "Excuse us we're going to go get some asleep, we're exhausted."

Fergus and Korensky stepped aside to let Erwin Sr. and Maria through before looking at Erwin who was removing his wing from Margaret's back although she didn't raise up her spines

"I can't believe you got out of that!" Julie shouted at them

"Me neither." Erwin said as he looked at Margaret, who was standing aside him with her head leaning against his side, "Margaret are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I just enjoyed that more than I thought I would." She replied before she yawned, "Now I'm tired too!"

"Where is everybody?" Erwin asked as he looked around and realized that all the other post-human dragons, the dragon riders and their dragons, and the 502nd's pilots weren't there

"Well Barnes, Samantha, and their kids are sleeping in the cargo bay, everybody else is all on the island enjoying the calm while it lasts." Catherine replied, "So where's Calvin and Emily?"

"Last time we saw them Calvin was in his new Deadly Nadder form making out with Emily in the hangar we left them in." Erwin said to her

"Oh, then I guess it's better that I don't disturb them." She replied, "So have you two been making out behind my back?"

"MOM!" Margaret shouted while Catherine laughed in response as Fergus led Korensky into the Cargo Bay where Barnes, Samantha, Zoey, Leon, Anna, and Preston were all asleep in a corner

"Well I guess this is place." Fergus said as Korensky laid down in one of the other corners and got into a comfortable position, "So how you feeling?"

"Slight better." He replied telepathically while Fergus sat down next to him

"I wonder how they did it." Fergus said to him

"Excuse me?" Korensky asked him telepathically

"Getting over losing their humanity and got to the point of having kids as dragons." He replied

"Why would I know?" Korensky said to him telepathically

"Just saying, I mean they don't even seem to miss being human." He replied

"Maybe they're just used to it?" Korensky asked him telepathically

"Yeah I guess you're right." He replied, "But I guess that means if they can do it, then you can too."

**Common Pleas Courthouse; Cape Girardeau, MO – Coalition Verse **

**Coalition Leadership Assembly **

**0800 Hours **

The scene at Common Pleas Courthouse was chaotic as news crews from across the Coalition Verse mobbed around the security perimeter that had been secured around the building by APM Security Forces and Cape Girardeau Police Department while inside the Courthouse the leaders of the Coalition's member nations, both major and minor met for the first time with Isotxian Foreign Minister, Joseph Korensky and President of the Western Hemispheric Federation, Blake Emmonds in the main courtroom which had for the moment been turned into a large conference room with a large table in the center where the leaders sat around as Paxton called the meeting into order

"Now that we're all here, let's be seated." He said as he and the other Coalition leaders and Emmonds sat down while Joseph's assistant pushed his wheel chair into his spot at the table, "I would like to welcome President of the WHF, Blake Emmonds and Isotxian Foreign Minister Joseph Korensky, who will be representing the Federal Republic of Isotx today as their Prime Minister was involved in other concerns that required his immediate attention."

"Thank you for having me here, Mr. President." Joseph said to Paxton, "The Prime Minister Vincent told me to tell you he regrets not being to attend this meeting himself and to remind you that we were already at war when the gateways linking our world to the Viking Verse opened."

"We are already informed of your nation's situation in your world Mr. Korensky." Said the Russian President, Artur Rusnak, "But will it affect your ability to effectively contribute to our efforts against the Roman Empire and Blackwater, the former of which, as I've been told by the FSB, has nationalized all of Gene Corp's assets after the fall of its headquarters to your forces."

"Mr. Rusnak, I ensure you and the rest of the Coalition, that the Federal Republic of Isotx and her commonwealth has every attention to contribute to this war as much as possible! But we can't also turn a blind eye to our other convictions!" Joseph replied, "I should also remind you that my only son has been turned into a dragon by one of Gene Corp's scientists, so I have just as much reason to hate them and their allies just as much as you do."

Rusnak nodded

"Sorry." He said to Joseph

"Now that's settled." Paxton said, "But as Rusnak said, Gene Corp is no more and the Roman Empire has seized control of its assets and is incorporating them into their war efforts giving us every signal that the Romans or Blackwater has no intention of coming to the table peacefully meaning that this war is not going to end until we send our tanks crashing through the gates of Constantinople."

"What about this 'Drago Bludvist' we keep hearing about?!" Asked the Prime Minister of the European Federation, Alberta Linto, "Is he a threat to us?!"

"We don't know because as of right now we don't exactly know where is or what his intentions are." Paxton replied

"Well that's reinsuring!" Said the Canadian Prime Minister

"Look all that matters right now is that we finish off the Roman Empire and Blackwater and shut down those conversion camps that the Romans have kept in operation after the fall of Gene Corp, _then_ we will worry about Drago Bludvist." Paxton replied

"Didn't Gene Corp have conversion camps in Scandinavia which is where we believe Drago Bludvist is operating?!" Linto asked him

Paxton took a deep breath

"Yes, but after the fall of Gene Corp's headquarters Scandinavia has gone completely dark for both us and the Romans making us believe that the Blackwater forces there must have turned their guns against the Romans when they tried to nationalize Gene Corp's operations there." He said

"So in other words we have no idea what's going on in Scandinavia right now?" Emmonds asked him and nobody replied, "That's what I thought."

"Well I agree with President Paxton, we need to focus on the bigger threats first and those are the Romans and Blackwater, then focus on this 'Drago Bludvist', whoever he is." Joseph replied

"I have to agree with Foreign Minister Korensky on this, we need to focus on finishing up the job you guys started." Emmonds said

The Coalition Leaders nodded

**Blackwater Scandinavian Command; Somewhere in the Scandinavian Mountains **

**Two Hours Earlier – 0602 Hours **

After being repatriated for his unauthorized use of chemical weapons during the ill-fated invasion of the Barbaric Archipelago, General Patrick Walker was placed in control of Blackwater's military operations in Scandinavia including its efforts to contain the advance of Drago Bludvist's forces in Northern Scandinavia. But with the collapse of Gene Corp and it's nationalization by the Roman Empire, Walker was now displaying his true colors by ordering his men to cut off all communication with the mainland as they moved against the Roman forces trying to seize control of Gene Corp's facilities in the Scandinavian Mountains, which Walker had now claimed for his new "employer" who was on his way to Walker's headquarters in the Scandinavian Mountains as the General and his command staff commanded his forces from its inner sanctum

"General Walker! General Walker!" An Ensign shouted to Walker as he rushed into the sanctum and down the stairs to the main floor where Walker and his command staff were gathered around a large digital map table showing the location of Walker's forces and the territory they held in blue while the Roman forces and the territory they occupied were shown in red while the forces of Walker's new employer were shown in green as they moved south to join Walker's forces

"What is it?! Can't you see I'm busy?!" He shouted to the Ensign

"He's here sir!" He replied shakily

Walker smiled and stood up

"Finally!" He said, "Bring him in!"

The Ensign nodded and contacted another Ensign with his comm set

"Bring him in!" He said to the Other Ensign and several minutes later, Walker's new employer, Drago Bludvist entered the sanctum carrying a bullhook-like staff in one of his hands while wearing a cape made of dragon hide that covered his other arm

"Mr. Bludvist, I hope you are pleased with our 'services'." Walker said to Drago as he came down the stairs

Drago smiled

"How goes your attack against the Romans?" He asked Walker

"We're making great progress, we caught the Romans completely by surprise and we have their backs to the wall!" He replied, "But that was to be expected, the Romans are nowhere near was well-armed as my men are, but I'm guessing your already know that by now?"

Drago nodded

"Your earlier 'gifts' were enough to proof your forces' strength." He said, "And I entrust that my army will begin receiving larger shipments of your weapons?"

Walker nodded

"I'm a man of my word Drago, your forces will get their weapons." He said to him, "But keep in mind that some of our more _advanced_ weapons take time to build and require some training to use."

"And what about my facilities?" Drago asked him

"They're all yours." He replied, "But my forces will continue to provide security for them."

Drago nodded

"With your weapons and my dragons, our armies will be _unstoppable_." Drago said

"Oh wait until you see the weapons that we are still developing." Walker said to him

***Author's Notes***

I know I got carried away on the "Parts" thing, but I'm going to try avoid doing that in the future.


	21. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen: Family

**Top Sail Island, North Carolina – Coalition Verse **

**March 24****th****, 2246 – 1455 Hours **

Samuel was riding on top of Sheva as she and her parents flew over the small channel that separated Top Sail Island from the mainland

"See that blue house over there?" Samuel asked Sheva as he pointed to one of the beach houses

"Yeah I see it, is that it?" She asked him

"Yeah that's it." He replied, "We'll land in that empty lot on the other side of the road."

Sheva nodded and Tesla and Karlson

"Okay! We'll follow your lead!" Karlson replied as Sheva took them toward the empty lot where they landed while Samuel dismounted from Sheva

"Stay here, I'll tell you when to come over." Samuel said to Sheva after he climbed off her and ran across the road to the blue house and rang the doorbell several times before Henderson's mother-in-law, Evie Watkins opened the door

"Samuel?! What are you doing here?!" Evie asked him

"Evie, I brought somebody with me who has some news about Jayden." He replied

"Jayden?! Is he alright?!" Evie asked him

"Yes, he's fine." Samuel replied

"So who is it?" Evie asked him

"It's Sheva Karlson, she's one of the other post-human dragons who were captured with Henderson." He replied, "She's in the empty lot across the road."

"Grandma who is it?!" Henderson's daughter, Ellie shouted from upstairs

"Ellie get down here!" Evie shouted to her, "Why did this Sheva get let go, but Henderson didn't?"

"There was apparently a prisoner exchange and they got her back." Samuel replied, "If you want, I'll bring her over."

"Please." Evie said to him

Samuel nodded and ran back to the road

"Okay Sheva, come on over!" He shouted to Sheva, who sprinted across the road as Ellie and Evie came out of their house

"WHOA!" Ellie shouted when she saw Sheva

"Hi…" Sheva said with her translation collar while trying to hide her discomfort, "Henderson told me to find you guys and tell you that he's okay and misses you both very much."

Evie nodded

"Thank you." She said to Sheva, "I'm guessing you and Henderson got close while you were together?"

Sheva nodded

"If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have made it out of the hell that Gene Corp was holding us in alive." She said to Evie telepathically

"When is my dad coming home?" Ellie asked Sheva

"I don't know." She replied with her translation collar, "But I promise you that we're working on bringing him back."

"Can we come with you?!" Ellie asked her

"No, it's too dangerous." She replied with her translation collar, "Your father wouldn't want you getting hurt."

"I promise that I'll stay on the airship you guys fly around in!" Ellie said to her, "Please…"

"I'm sorry, but no." She replied with her translation collar before Ellie ran to her and latched onto one of her legs

"PLEASE!" Ellie screamed as she cried while Sheva tried to keep herself from crying

"Ellie! Let her go!" Evie shouted as she and Samuel tried to get her granddaughter to let go of Sheva's leg

"Well I guess she inherited her father's grip!" Samuel shouted while Karlson and Tesla came across the road

"What is going on over here?" Karlson asked with his translation collar before he saw Evie and Samuel trying to pry Ellie off Sheva's leg

"She wants to go with us!" Sheva said to them, "I said no and then she latched onto my leg!"

Karlson sighed

"I knew something like this was going to happen." Tesla said to him telepathically, "I say we let them go with us, I mean as long as they stay on the _Patton_ they're going to be safe."

"But what about school?" He asked her telepathically

"We can just get her a tutor! Hell she might even get a better education out of it." She replied telepathically, "Plus she's probably going to be our step granddaughter if we find Henderson alive!"

"You know Barnes is not going to like this do you?" Karlson asked her telepathically

"Who cares what Barnes thinks?" She replied telepathically

Karlson sighed and looked at Evie as she finally pulled Ellie over of Sheva's leg

"Are you her grandmother?" Karlson asked Evie with his translation collar

"I am." She replied, "I'm guessing your Sheva's father?" She asked him

Karlson nodded

"What kind of military experience do you have?" He asked her

"I served my national service term in the U.S Army as an engineer, but I never saw any combat." Evie replied

"Dad what are you doing?!" Sheva asked her father, who ignored her

"Would you and Ellie like to come with us?" He asked Evie with his translation collar

"What?!" Evie replied, "But Ellie has to finish the sch-"

"We'll get a tutor for her." Karlson said to her with his translation collar, "As long as you guys stay on our airship, the _Patton_, you'll be perfectly safe."

"Isn't the _Patton _the one that had the riot on it?" Evie asked him

"Yeah, but we corrected the flaws in its security since then." Karlson replied, "Plus some of the crew members have their families with them as well, so Ellie won't be the only kid."

Evie looked at Ellie

"Do you really want to go with them?" She asked Ellie, who nodded, "Then go pack your things."

Reaper landed on the roof of the neighboring house

"There you guys are!" Reaper shouted to them with his translation collar

"What have you been doing?!" Karlson asked him

"Cleaning house, you?" He replied, "Let's just say that Mr. Henderson won't be having any more problems getting promoted or medals from now on."

"Jesus Christ, you've only been here for one day and you're already back on the job!" Karlson said to him

"Don't worry I didn't kill anybody, just demoted them and sent them to the frontlines where somebody else is _hopefully_ not going to kill them." He replied, "As I said before, nothing pisses me off than disloyal officers."

"Also Samuel, you're a brigadier general now, congratulations." Reaper said to Samuel with his translation collar

"Uhhhh…thank you?" He replied as Reaper climbed down to the ground

"Who's he?" Evie asked Sheva

"That would be Reaper." She replied with her translation collar

"Oh my god, it's an honor to be your presence Mr. Reaper." Evie said to Reaper, who nodded before she went back into her house to pack

"So what's going on?" He asked Karlson

"They're coming with us back to Berk." He replied

"What?!" Reaper asked him with his translation collar

"If they're going I'm coming too! I want to get my best officer back and get some pay-back!" Samuel said

"Are you going to bring everybody on this island with us?" Reaper asked Karlson, who didn't answer him

"Jayden is going to _kill_ me." Sheva thought to herself

"Karlson are you crazy?!" Reaper asked Karlson

"They're going to stay on the _Patton_." He replied

"I don't care! They're civilians Karlson, sure Mrs. Watkins has _some_ military experience, but they don't need to be coming with us!" Reaper said to him

"They want to help us find Henderson." Karlson replied

"How are they going help us do that?! It's not like they have access to Roman or Blackwater High Command!" Reaper said to him

"Please Reaper, after the shit we went through to free your ass, you can't at least let this slide." He replied

Reaper looked down at the ground and sighed before looking back up at Karlson

"You win, but I'm not going to be the one who explains this to Barnes when we get back to Berk!" He said to Karlson, who nodded as Evie and Ellie returned with their suitcases and backpacks carrying some of their clothes and personal belongings

"We'll carry your luggage for you." Karlson said to them with his translation collar as he and as well as Reaper picked up Evie and Ellie's suitcases by the handles with their mouths

"I'll at least help carry the luggage though so I don't look like a complete ass in front of Catherine." Reaper replied

"Don't worry about the rest of your and Henderson's belongings, I'll have somebody come by and pick the rest of it up and ship it to the _Patton_." Karlson said to Evie and Ellie as they climbed onto Tesla

**USAS **_**Patton**_** – Calvin's Living Quarters; Over the Isle of Berk **

**1623 Hours **

Calvin was straightening out the collar of his new APMSF Dress uniform in front of a mirror, while Emily, who was in her human form for the rest time, was putting on the wedding dress that Catherine had given her in the bathroom while Catherine, Margaret, and Emily's parents were waiting for them in the hangar bay

"You've been pretty quiet in there Emily, are you okay?" Calvin shouted to Emily

"I look ridiculous!" She replied

"Well you only have to wear it once!" Calvin said to her as he finished straightening out his collar before looking at the sergeant stripes that he sewn onto its right sleeve after finding out about his promotion only an hour earlier from an APMSF Officer

"Well what do you think?" Emily asked Calvin as she opened the bathroom door and walked out in her wedding dress while Calvin was completely awestruck, "Well?"

"The butt's a bit too big, but the rest of it fits pretty well." She added as she looked at her rear

"Emily…you're absolutely gorgeous." Calvin said to her as he came to her and placed his hand gently on Emily's right cheek as she looked up at him

"You're bluffing!" Emily replied, blushing

"No I'm not…" Calvin said to her as he held Emily's chin up before he kissed her on the lips for the first time while Emily placed her hands behind his neck before a knock on the door ended the moment

"Are you guys about done yet?!" Margaret shouted from the other side

"Uhhh just about!" Calvin replied as he rushed to place his cap on

"Wow Calvin you look pretty god damn sexy in that uniform!" Emily said to him

"You think so?" He asked her

"Yeah, you also look a bit intimidating as well." Emily replied

"I think it's supposed to be like that." Calvin said to her as they went to the door

Meanwhile in the hangar; Erwin was back in his human form with Julie as they stood with their brothers and parents next to the cargo bay entrance holding a conversation

"So Gene Corp turned you two into Night Furies by _accident_?" Erwin Sr. asked Manfred and Harrison, who both nodded, "Unbelievable."

"I didn't believe it either when I heard it the first time from Yates." Erwin replied, "It still doesn't make it any better that they're doing this to people. "

"Well at least two of you are still human, or at least can turn into a human when you want too." Maria said to her children

"So junior, what is it like being a dragon?" Erwin Sr. asked his son

"It's certainly an interesting experience dad, but after you get used to it, it's actually…kind of fun." He replied

"Yeah I have to admit, me and Manfred have had a lot of fun with it too." Harrison added with his translation collar, "Being able to fly and blast stuff with plasma or whatever it is really fricking awesome! You should've seen us during the battle!"

"I heard from Erich that you two performed very well." Erwin Sr. said to him

"So dad I've heard rumors that General Chadaface and the 3rd Army are being transferred here, is that true?" Erwin asked his dad

"It is, command approved his transfer this morning, poor Roman and Blackwater bastards won't know what hit them when he gets here." He replied as Margaret returned to the hangar with Calvin and Emily, the latter of which had her right arm around the former's left arm

"So…what do you guys think?" Calvin asked Catherine, Wensky, and Katie while the other post-human dragons and the dragon riders talked excitedly to each other while Snotlout gave Emily a wolf whistle before Astrid punched him in the arm to make him shut up

"She's already taken dimwit!" Astrid said to Snotlout

"What?! I was just giving her a compliment." She replied

"Oh my god you two look great!" Catherine shouted to them while Margaret stood next to her

"That's what I said!" Margaret added

"Only if my mom and dad were here to see this." Calvin said, "When are they supposed to be back?"

"Soon." Barnes replied, "Seriously you two look great! Defiantly you Emily!"

"Yeah she defiantly inherited her mother's beauty." Wensky said while Katie brushed her head against his,

"Oh stop it Adam, you're making me blush!" Katie said to him

"How are you blushing?" He asked her

"I meant it hypothetically." She replied telepathically, "Now don't ruin the moment!"

"So whose dress is this?" Emily asked Catherine

"It's the one I wore when I married Reaper." She replied, "Now it's yours'."

"Wow! It looks brand new!" Emily said to her

"Yeah I took good care of it, for when I needed it again." She replied as she looked at Margaret, who pretended not to be listening as she looked back at Erwin

"Get up there!" Erwin Sr. said to Erwin quietly as he pushed him forward

"Fine…fine." He thought to himself as he walked over to Margaret and stood at her side

"You're not looking that bad yourself Calvin." Erwin said to Calvin

"Thank you sir." He replied

"Do you two know how to dance?" Erwin asked him and Emily, who exchanged glances, "Guess not."

"Well that's something I can't do anymore." Catherine said, "Erwin can you and Margaret show them some moves or can't you dance as well?"

"Depends, what kind of dancing are you talking about?" Erwin asked her

"Preferably the one that doesn't involve hurting people." She replied

"Then yes, I know how to dance." Erwin said to her, "I wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't!"

Erwin turned to Margaret and offered him his arm

"May I have this dance?" Erwin asked her

Margaret nodded and placed her arm around Erwin's as everybody stepped back to give them room while Calvin and Emily joined them

"First you want to take hold of your partner." Erwin said to Calvin and Emily as he wrapped one of his arms around Margaret's waist and held right hand with his other hand while Calvin did the same with Emily

"Then what?" Calvin asked him as he and Emily looked at Erwin and Margaret

"For now just watch me and Margaret." Erwin said to them as he and Margaret started to do a slow dance

"If you're doing this to impress me…it's working." Margaret whispered to Erwin as he twirled her before he wrapped his arm back around her waist

"Who said I was trying to impress you?" Erwin asked her with a smile

"Oh you…" She replied while Calvin and Emily started to copy them

"Okay I'm liking this…" Emily said to Calvin as she laid her head on his chest while Preston and Anna joined them, standing up on their hind legs while Preston wrapped his wings around Anna as they started to shuffle their feet around

"What are you two doing, this is supposed to be a dancing lesson!" Barnes said to them, but didn't get a response as Samantha moved behind him and pushed him into the circle with her head before she stood up stood up on her legs and let Barnes, who decided to just let it go, wrapped his wings around her as they copied Anna and Preston shuffling their feet around and they were followed by Hiccup and Astrid who were then followed by Wensky and Katie, who touched their snouts together and started to dance by shuffling their feet

"Aw screw it! Come on Maria!" Erwin Sr. said as he grabbed his wife by her hands and started to slow dance as well while Toothless and Zoey, copying her sister and parents, started to dance together

"Don't get any ideas Tooth." Barnes said to Toothless telepathically

"I'm not." He replied telepathically while Leon approached Julie as the other post-human dragons and human personnel in the hangar bay began to take partners and dance together

"So I guess you're going to ask me if I can switch forms so I can dance with you." Julie asked Leon, who nodded

Sure…" She replied before he headed into the cargo bay to get undressed and transform into a Night Fury as an APMSF VTOL Pilot got into the cockpit of a Mallard and started to play slow dance music with his MP3 Player over its loudspeaker as Catherine, the only one left without a partner, besides Ruffnut, Snotlout, and Fishlegs, the latter two of which were arguing over the former, who didn't seem to be interested in either of them

"God dammit Reaper why did you have to leave?" Catherine asked herself while Margaret and Erwin continued to slow dance

"Look what you started." Margaret said to Erwin as she laid her head down on his chest while he tightened his hold on her

"So are we still on a date tonight?" Erwin asked her

"Of course." She replied, "Now be quiet and just dance, I'm actually enjoying this."

"I just hope your dad doesn't show up and see us." Erwin said to her

"Why, he wouldn't do anything to you." She replied, "In fact I bet my mom over there would probably drag him into this if he was here."

"If you say so…" Erwin said

"Hold on, I want to do something real fast." Margaret said as she took one of her hands and rubbed the rubber hand that was holding her hair into a pony tail, letting it fall down before she continued to dance with Erwin

"Wow, you look beautiful with your hair down like that." Erwin replied

"Thank you, I thought you would like it." Margaret said to him as Julie and Leon joined them and the others

"I feel sorry for your mom." Erwin said to Margaret as he glanced over at Catherine

"She'll be okay, she'll probably force my dad to dance with her later when he gets back." She replied as an APMSF Officer entered the hangar looking for Barnes

"Is General Barnes here?"

"Just when I was starting to enjoy this…" Barnes thought to himself as everybody stopped dancing as he and Catherine went to the APMSF Officer

"What is it?" Barnes asked the Officer with his translation collar

"As you know General Karlson was having our technicians study the data that was stored inside the black boxes that we recovered from the Gene Cargo plane that the Isotxians captured and gave to us when they received Emily Wensky and Sheva Karlson to see if we could get something about the location of the prison they're keeping the remaining prisoners in." She replied

"Did you find it?" Barnes asked her with his translation collar

"Yes, it's located inside a large hill next to a sound in Eastern Scandinavian." She replied, "The Isotxians are preparing a strike force as we speak and the HHEFs are tagging along with them."

"Where is my husband and the Karlsons?" Catherine asked her with her translation collar

"They're on their way and we've already informed them." She replied

"You all heard the lady, let's get suited up and go get the rest of our guys back!" Barnes shouted to the other post-human dragons and the dragon riders and their mounts as the ground crews rushed to help them get their armor on while Erwin and Margaret ran into the cargo to get undress and transform into Skrills as Calvin led Emily out of the hangar

"Where are we going?" Emily asked him

"First we're going back to my quarters to redress and then we're going to the armory to get suited up!" He replied

"Okay." Emily said to him while back in the hangar, the APMSF heavy VTOL carrying Reaper, the Karlsons, and unknowingly to Barnes and the others, Henderson's family flew into the hangar bay and landed before dropping its rear offloading ramp so it's passengers could disembark

"There you guys ar-WHAT THE HELL?!" Barnes shouted with his translation collar when he saw Evie and Ellie following Sheva out of the VTOL

"Language please?!" Sheva shouted to him with her translation collar

"I thought you said you were going to go see them, not bring them here?!" Barnes said to her

"It was my idea Barnes so don't chew my daughter out for." Karlson said to him

"And just so you know, I was completely against this idea!" Reaper said to Barnes with his translation collar as followed Evie and Ellie carrying one of their suitcases

"Then why are you carrying one of their suitcases?" He asked him

"Because I didn't want to look like an ass in front of your mother." Reaper replied telepathically as Barnes sighed and looked at Karlson, who was standing in front of them

"Why did you bring them here?!" Barnes asked Karlson

"Because they want to help us find Henderson and I wasn't going to say no to the little girl who is possibly going to be my granddaughter-in-law!" He replied

"Karlson for somebody who works in the APMSF you have a big heart." Barnes said to him telepathically, "I can guess I can respect that."

Barnes turned his attention to Evie and Ellie

"So you found where they're keeping Henderson?!" Evie asked him immediately

"Yes and we're getting ready to head there now." He replied with his translation collar, "You two can go stay in one of our VIP quarters near the bridge, you'll be safe and out-of-the-way of the ship's crew there."

Evie nodded as Barnes motioned for an APMSF Officer to come over to them

"Take these two to one of the VIP quarters and make sure they get whatever they want until we come back from the mission." Barnes said to the Officer with his translation collar

"Yes sir." The Officer replied, "Come with me ma'am if you please."

Evie nodded and took Ellie with as they followed the APMSF Officer out of the hangar as Erwin and Margaret came out of the cargo bay in their Skrill forms

"So I guess you two are going with them?" Erwin Sr. asked his son, who nodded his head

"I sent my division back to Denmark after Gene Corp's HQ fell, so I have nothing else to do." He replied as Catherine and Reaper approached them

"Mrs. And Mr. Schnitter this is my husband, Reaper." Catherine said to Erwin Sr. and Maria

"Nice to meet you Reaper, we've heard so much about you." Erwin Sr. said to Reaper as he shook one of Reaper's claws when he presented it to him

"It's an honor to meet you to Field Marshal Schnitter." Reaper replied with his translation collar, "We've heard so much about you from the European Theater veterans we've met during our time our nations have been working together."

"I'm not surprised, I'm sure you've heard that junior has quite a reputation himself too." Erwin Sr. said to him

"Heard? Hell, it's because of him that we're standing right here in front of you!" He replied with his translation collar

"That doesn't mean you go fuck my daughter though." Reaper said to Erwin telepathically

"We're only going a single fricking date!" He replied telepathically

"I know, just making sure you know that." Reaper said to him telepathically

"Whatever he's saying to you in there, just ignore him, he's harmless as you're not trying to kill him." Margaret said to Erwin telepathically

Erwin snorted as two groups of APM Engineers mobbed him and Margaret as they put their translation collars and armor on

"Since you guys have had trouble charging your shots, we equipped your armor with specialized power generators that _should_ give you that extra boostyou need." One of the Engineers said to them

"Sweet." Margaret replied while two other groups of Engineers mobbed Reaper and Catherine to put their armor on while Calvin and Emily returned to the hangar, fully suited in power combat armor

"Wow this armor is more comfortable than I expected it would be." Emily said to Calvin

"I know, I figured it would be uncomfortable as fuck to sit in, but it's actually quite comfortable." He replied before he noticed his parents and Sheva who were holding still as the engineers put their armor on while Karlson noticed them

"Emily is that you standing over there?!" Karlson shouted to them

"Yeah Mr. Karlson it's me." Emily replied as she and Calvin came over to him and Tesla, so they could get a better look

"You two missed it, Emily had her wedding dress on and Calvin was in dress uniform and everybody was dancing!" Samantha said Karlson and Tesla

"Awww what?! You guys didn't wait for us?!" Tesla replied, disappointed

"I wanted to wait until you guys were here, but Mrs. Reaper got rather impatient." Calvin said to her as Sheva stood behind him and Emily

"You already have a wedding dress?! Can I see it?!" Sheva asked Emily

"Maybe after we come back from this mission." She replied as she placed her helmet on, but didn't fold down the visor before looking at the sergeant stripes that were painted on the pauldron that covered Calvin's right shoulder, "So Calvin since you're sergeant now shouldn't you have a squad following you around?"

"Sergeant?" Karlson asked him, "Who promoted you?"

"It wasn't you?" Calvin asked him

"No." He replied before he looked at Reaper, "Reaper?! Did you have anything to do with Calvin's promotion?"

"No." Reaper replied, "In fact I had no idea he was even up for one!"

"Then who did?!" Karlson asked him as Echo Squad came into the hangar

"Wait a second, since Sergeant Eddie was killed doesn't that mean that his squad doesn't have a leader now?" Emily asked, not noticing Echo Squad as they approached Calvin

"Yeah…wait…_oh crap_." Calvin replied quietly

"Calvin! Some guy told us you were our new squad lead, so I guess that means we're coming with you on this." Don said to him

"Yeah I now just realized that." He replied, "So dad, what do you want us to do?"

Karlson sighed

"You guys can come with me because I'll probably need some human help in getting Henderson and the others out of their cell." Sheva said to Calvin, "But we're going to need a second dragon because there is no way I can carry all of you."

"We'll go!" Hiccup replied, "We kind of owe it to Henderson anyway for the help he provided in capturing Alvin and saving my dad from that Roman Stormcutter."

"And we're also going to need some heavy weaponry if we run into any of those exosuits." Calvin said

Karlson nodded

"We'll attach an anti-tank team to you, which should be more than enough to take care of enough problems you might run into there." He said

**Ex-Gene Corp Holding Facility; Near Present Day Utansjo, Sweden **

Henderson was laying down as Ward examined some of the wounds inflicted onto him by the Guards for his "disobedience" during the exchange that included a scare on the left side of his horn along with various bruises and cuts on his back and sides

"Jesus Christ, they beat you pretty badly this time." Ward said to him as she used a weak electrical charge to give some illumination, "But most of these wounds will heal over time, but that scar on your horn is permeant I'm afraid."

Henderson sighed as he stood up

"At least Sheva and Emily are out of here though." He said

"I bet we're going out of here too soon enough because I bet whoever Calvin was working with will be able to track that radio he had." Ward replied

"I hope so…" Henderson said as he glanced over at the blast doors, "I just hope they don't kill us before they get to us though."

"I hope so too." Ward replied, "I would really like to get back to the 502nd and continue my work and research because I've learned a lot about dragons just by taking care of the post-human ones."

"So I'm guessing you've studied me as well during all this time?" Henderson asked her

Ward snorted

"I have other concerns now." She said, "I never knew Sheva and you were that close."

"I didn't either until they were gassing us." Henderson replied, "Now I feel like part of me is missing."

"Well you know the old saying, you don't realize how much you love something until it's gone." Ward said to him

"Isn't that the truth…" He replied

"So Henderson, what happened between you and your uncle that makes you hate him so much?" Ward asked him

Henderson sighed

"If you don't want to talk about it, I understand." She said to him

"After my dad died, he came in to take _care _of us for him, but he really was there for our money since my dad inherited the family fortune the year before when my grandpa died, he stayed around until my 18th birthday when he took everything we had in our savings and checking accounts and left me and my mom out to dry." He replied, "We were forced to sell our house and move into an apartment, I joined the Marines for my national service term and my mom took a job at a local superstore to help make ends meet, but she couldn't take it. One day I came home to find that she had locked herself in the bathroom and shoved an entire bottle of painkillers down her throat, I called 911, but by the time the paramedics got there she was gone."

"Oh my god…" Ward said

"I've hated him ever since then, then about a month after that he pissed off the People's Party so bad they put out a warrant for his arrest and I couldn't resist the temptation to rat him out." Henderson replied

"How did you know where he was?" Ward asked him

"While he was quote on quote _raising_ me, he took me out on a few of his _errands_ and meetings with his conservative buddies, so I knew who and where he was going to flee to, but unfortunately he managed to get over the border into Canada before the APMSF could get to him" He replied, "I have no regrets though."

"I heard he was a scumbag, but I never knew he was capable of _that_!" Ward said to him, "My dad used to listen to his shit radio show all the time, but he mostly laughed at him though because he was batshit crazy."

"He and my dad never got along either, I remember onetime they got into a fight and my dad beat the shit out of him and threw them out of our house." He replied

"What about your dad?" Ward asked him

"If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be half the man I am today." He replied, "He taught me a lot of the things I know about life, although my uncle taught me about how cruel it can be too, although Gene Corp might beat him considering all the things they've done to me recently."

"I wouldn't doubt that your uncle is hoping that you're dead now." Ward said to him

"I don't doubt it either, he was never really fond of me either because I was _too much _like my dad." Henderson replied

"I consider that a good thing." Ward said to him before the ceiling suddenly shook as a large bomb exploded above ground, waking Aberly and the other post-human dragons inside the holding chamber with Ward and Henderson

"We're finally being rescued!" Shouted Dean Oliver, the post-human Deadly Nadder that had been a member of Henderson's squad

"We don't know that yet!" Henderson shouted, "But everybody get ready to get out of here just in case!"

"We should _really _do something about the nozzles up there, so they can't gas us!" Jasmine shouted

"Agreed!" Henderson replied as he looked up at the gas nozzles hanging down from the walls before he took a deep breath and aimed for the nearest gas nozzle


	22. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty: Drago Rising – Part One

**Blackwater Scandinavian Command **

**March 23****rd****, 2246 - 1834 Hours **

Walker and Drago were standing around the map table, monitoring the advance of their forces on the last strongholds on the Southern coasts when an Ensign rushed into the sanctum

"General Walker, we're receiving reports that Isotxian airborne infantry and Viking dragon riders are attacking the Utansjo Holding Facility!" The Ensign shouted to General Walker

"Dammit!" He replied

"A holding facility? What's being held there?" Drago asked him

"A group of Coalition POWs that Yates intended to use as bargaining chips if a negotiated peace with the Coalition ever became favorable." He replied, "But earlier before they backstabbed us, the Isotxians had an envoy, who was an American agent according to some of our agents, who took two of the prisoners as part of a deal that they made with Yates and he's probably the one who led them there."

"Who are these prisoners?" Drago asked them

"I…don't know, Yates never told me and I've been too busy with the Roman problem to find out." Walker replied, "But they're probably important if Yates was wanting to use them as bargaining chips and the Isotxians are making the effort to rescue."

Alarms suddenly began to go off as a burst of dark energy was displayed on the map table as a ping near where the Holding Facility was

"We've got a transition! Looks like a _Patton_-class judging by the size!" A Blackwater Officer shouted

"That must be Task Force Therian!" Walker said, "Direct all available forces to that area, I do not want them establishing a beachhead!"

"I've heard of this Task Force Therian from my dragon trappers operating near the British Isles, I heard they have both post-human dragons _and_ dragon riders. Is this true?" Drago asked Walker, who nodded

"Task Force Therian is a multi-national task force that the Coalition created to attack the late Gene Corp's operations after our failed attempt to take the Barbaric Archipelago." He replied, "Among its ranks is the 502nd Special Operations Fighter Squadron and the APMSF 1st Stormtrooper Legion, who inherited the people who Gene Corp's original leader, Larry MacTavish, turned into dragons before and during the quote on quote _First_ Gene Corp War, which was fought in our world which the United States, a member of the Coalition, won."

"What about the dragon riders?" Drago asked him

"They all hail from the Hairy Hooligan Tribe of Vikings in the Barbaric Archipelago, most of them are part of the Hairy Hooligan's expeditionary forces, but a small number of them are part of Task Force Therian and those are the ones we need to worry about." He replied, "Their dragons are very _very _loyal to them, they're not going to be easy to take out, even without the Coalition backing them."

Drago nodded and smirked as he looked down at the table

"Well let's see how loyal their dragons are when they're facing an alpha." He said

**USAS **_**Patton**_** – Hangar Bay; Near Present Day Utansjo, Sweden **

**Task Force Therian**

**1836 Hours **

As the USAS _Patton_ began to reopen its hangar bay doors after coming out of the transitioning, Barnes briefed the post-human dragons and the dragon riders' mounts on the new upgrades to their armor with his translation collar

"While we were on Berk, our engineers applied some upgrades to our armor which they think we really like. Vasili and these Stormtroopers here will do a quick demonstration."

Barnes stepped out-of-the-way as Katrina stood in front of Vasili with her minigun

"Ready?" She asked the post-human Russian as she started to spin up the barrels of the minigun

"Ready as I ever will be." He replied with his translation collar as Katrina aimed her minigun and began to fire practice rounds at Vasili, which bounced off the force field that now surrounded him before she emptied the drum before Vasili engaged the cloaking device

"Cool!" Sheva shouted as Vasili disengage the cloak

"Yeah that was pretty awesome." He said with his translation collar as he checked himself for any injuries while Katrina loaded a drum of live rounds into her minigun

"Don't get too cocky though, the shield is only powerful enough to survive a single direct hit from a RPG or tank round and it still won't protect you from any Isotxian steel tipped ammunition that Blackwater or Rome might get their hands on." Barnes said with his translation collar while Erwin and his brothers snorted, "And the shield will recharge after a few minutes if you get into cover long enough."

"What about those laser tanks?" Snotlout asked him

"Well that one back in England burnt through that Pershing II's shield, which was twice as powerful as Vasili's, so what do you think?" Barnes replied with his translation collar, "And since they're bigger, Monstrous Nightmares have a slightly more powerful shield generator, which _might_ allow to survive two direct hits from heavy weaponry."

"Any questions?" Barnes added with his translation collar

"What happens if you run into something with it?" Ruffnut asked Barnes

"The shield will only repel objects moving at a high speed, so anything that isn't moving like say a _rock_ or slow enough to get through the shield can and most likely _will_ still hurt you." He replied with his translation collar, "So don't go around hitting rocks and tanks with it."

"Awww that's no fun!" Ruffnut said while both Barf and Belch quietly sighed in relief as the _Patton's_ hangar bay doors fully opened

"Okay guys let's lock and load!" Barnes shouted with his translation collar as the 502nd's and APMSF 1st Legion's F-45s, A-15s, and VTOLs started to take off out of the hangar over them followed by the post-human dragons and dragon riders while Calvin, Emily, Echo Squad flew on Sheva with the dragon riders and a APMSF Mallard broke off from the main group

"You see anything?" Emily asked Calvin as he used his electronic binoculars to scan the hill that the Gene Corp Facility was built into for a back entryway

"Not yet, but I think we will if we follow those railroad tracks." He replied as he pointed to the railway spur that branched off from the main rail line on the coast toward the facility as an odd-looking Isotxian jet fighter started to fly next to them

"What is that thing?!" Astrid shouted as they looked at the plane which had no tail and was a flying wing with two rear-facing jet engines in its fuselage that were emitting a bluish-white fire not all that too different from the flames emitted from the F-45's pulse engines while it's cockpit was located directly behind the aircraft's nose

"I have no fucking idea." Calvin replied before the fighter took off a lightning-fast speed and generated a sonic boom that momentarily disoriented Sheva and the dragon riders' mounts

"Holy crap! Did that thing just go ultra-sonic?!" Emily asked

"I think it did!" Calvin replied as Sheva snorted

"Fucking asshole." Sheva thought to herself as she and the dragon riders followed the railway tracks to a tunnel protected by a heavily fortified security checkpoint

"Land us behind those rocks!" Calvin shouted as he pointed to the large pile of rocks lying next to the railway tracks as the flak guns in the checkpoint began to fire up at them

"I really _really_ HATE those gods' damned flak guns!" Hiccup shouted as a shrapnel from the exploding flak shells bounced off the force field that Toothless' armor was emitting as they landed behind the rocks with Calvin, Emily, and Echo Squad quickly dismounting while Hiccup, Toothless, and the other dragon riders attacked the security checkpoint while the APMSF VTOL hovered overhead as APMSF Stormtroopers carrying anti-tank missile launchers fast roped down from its passenger compartment

"Move up! Move up!" Calvin shouted as he motioned for the rest of Echo Squad to follow him as he Emily sprinted toward the security checkpoint while the Blackwater troopers inside were distracted by the dragon riders while Sheva took off and landed inside it as Calvin and Emily vaulted over the security gate protecting the entrance to the tunnel as Toothless plasma blasted one of the flak guns

"Clear out this checkpoint before we move into the facility!" Calvin shouted to Echo Squad and the anti-tank team as they moved through the checkpoint, neutralizing the Blackwater troopers manning it as Sheva jumped on top of a pillbox with and fired a flaming torus of fire down through its ventilation shaft, incinerating the Blackwater machinegun crew inside it as the ammunition for the machine gun started to cook off as Sheva jumped down, joining Calvin and Emily as a Blackwater exosuit lumbered out of the railway tunnel

"Take that thing out!" One of the Anti-tank Stormtroopers shouted as one them pointed their launcher in the direction of the exosuit and fired, striking the cockpit and blasting it and the exosuit's pilot apart and destroying the exosuit which fell backwards

"How you like them apples?!" The Stormtrooper with the Launcher shouted at the dead exosuit

"Checkpoint secured!" Katrina shouted as she gunned down the last Blackwater troopers as they tried to flee from their blockhouse into the tunnel

"Let's keeping moving forward!" Calvin shouted, "Katrina you take point!"

"Yes sir!" Katrina replied as she took the lead as Calvin, Emily, and the Echo Squad started to head into the railway tunnel with the dragon riders and anti-tank team following behind them with Stormfly opening her mouth a creating a torch by creating a small sustained flame in her throat that created a light

"You need to show me how to do that!" Emily said to Stormfly

"Maybe later." She replied telepathically

"Stick to the sides of the tunnel, defiantly don't want anybody getting hit by a train!" Calvin shouted as the ceiling of the tunnel shook from a large above ground explosion, raining dust down upon the ground

"I wonder how the others are doing." Sheva asked

Meanwhile above ground, Stoick the Vast was leading the HHEF's dragon riders into the battle on Skullcrusher alongside Isotxian Air Navy "Hellcat" jet fighters as they were fired at by the anti-air guns defending the Gene Corp Facility while Isotxian air marines and paratroopers attacked the facility on the ground supported by Tiny Tims and field guns that were deployed from gliders while the Isotxian _Travis_-class Heavy Air Cruiser(HAC), the IAS _Mitchell _provided heavy fire support with its broadside batteries of 12 and 11 inch guns while its anti-air batteries warded off any Blackwater aircraft

"Charge!" Stoick as shouted as the Hellcat flying next to him and Skullcrusher fired a volley of rockets and 30mm rounds at a fortified Blackwater position

The primary carrier-based fighter aircraft of the Isotxian Air Navy and Navy, the CF-90A "Hellcat" was armed with twin 30mm cannons mounted behind the nose and could carry a variety of munitions on the weapon-stations beneath its wings and fuselage allowing it to perform a variety of missions

"Watch out!" Another Viking Dragon Rider shouted as fire from a Blackwater anti-aircraft gun sawed off the right wing of a Hellcat and causing it to spin uncontrollably, but rather than immediately ejecting from his stricken aircraft, the Pilot guided it toward the nearest Blackwater position and then ejected just before it crashed into the position, killing many of the Blackwater troopers when it and the munitions it was carrying exploded while a Viking and his Monstrous Nightmare picked up the Pilot

"I can't believe we were fighting these people!" Another Viking shouted as the 502nd and the post-human dragons joined the battle as the USAS _Patton_ maintained a relatively safe distance over the Baltic

"Focus attention on the anti-air guns!" Barnes shouted over his translation collar's radio to the other post-human dragons and 502nd

"Barnes! Where's Hiccup and the others?" Stoick asked him over his radio

"They're inside the facility with Calvin and his squad looking for Henderson and the other prisoners!" He replied with his translation collar's radio as Reaper charged up his first lighting blast and shot it at one of the anti-air guns, electrifying it and its crew while causing it's ammunition to cook off and explode, destroying the gun as Reaper moved onto the next gun as Catherine, Margaret, and Erwin did the same

"Is that your father?!" Stoick shouted to Barnes over his radio as he watched Reaper charge up for his second lighting blast

"Yep that's him and the other ones are my mom, sister, and her Isotxian boyfriend, Erwin." He replied with his translation collar's radio, "But enough chit-chat, let's get back to kicking these guys' asses and freeing Henderson, the others, and whoever else Gene Corp was holding inside that place!"

Meanwhile back inside the Holding Facility inside their chamber, Calvin was leading Emily, Echo Squad, Sheva, and the dragon riders through the facility's holding chambers, taking out any Blackwater Guards they encountered

"Oh my gods there is many of them!" Astrid shouted, "How are we ever going to find them in here?!"

"There has to be a control room somewhere that will let us open all these cells!" Calvin replied

"How do you know?" Emily asked him

"I don't know, but I do know that most high-security prisons like this have a control room, usually manned by the warden." He replied

"Well my best guess is that if there is indeed a control room in here, is that it's going to be located somewhere toward the center." Katrina said to him

"Or we could just follow those arrows that say _control room_ on the walls." Hiccup replied

"Uhhh good point." Calvin said when he noticed the arrows

"So do you think all the people they're holding in here are dragons?" Fishlegs asked

"Well considering the fact that these are all blast doors, I would have to say yes." Don replied, "Meaning things are going to get fucking _hectic_ once we open these doors."

"There's the control room!" Calvin shouted when he spotted the control was as Katrina predicted, in the center of the Holding Area on a large platform surrounded by bulletproof glass with the only entrance being a small flight of stairs leading up into it

"INTRUDERS!" A Blackwater Trooper shouted when he spotted the group

"Emily come with me! The rest of you cover us!" Calvin shouted as he and Emily made a mad dash for the stairs leading into the control platform, where Calvin was attacked by a Blackwater Officer, who he immediately realized was the same Officer he was met with during the Exchange that had tortured Henderson and Sheva in front of him with their shock collars

"You aren't getting any farther than this American!" The Officer said to Calvin as they wrestled each other before Emily shot the Officer in the leg allowing Calvin to push him away with his rifle which he then pointed at the Officer

"This is for shocking my sister and her boyfriend you sick fuck." Calvin said to the Officer before he dispatched him with a shot to the forehead before continuing on up the stairs onto the platform where he found a large panel with several switches with the letter designations for each cell block written above them, "Emily help me with these!"

Emily and Calvin both grunted as they pulled the first switch, opening Cell Block A and freeing the post-human dragons that were being kept inside it before moving onto the second switch

"Attention all personnel, we have intruders in the holding area freeing the prisoners! All available personnel report to the holding area immediately!" A Blackwater Officer screamed over the PA system as Calvin and Emily pulled the second switch, opening Cell Block B and freeing the post-human dragons inside it before moving onto the third switch as more Blackwater troopers rushed into the holding area only to be torn apart by the freed post-human dragons

"Last one!" Calvin shouted as he and Emily pulled the switch that opened up Cell Block C and freed its inmates and moved onto to the switch that opened up Cell Block D

"Let's hope this is it!" Emily shouted as they pulled the switch, opening up the cells of Cell Block D and freeing its inmates as a Blackwater trooper fully suited in heavy body armor armed with a DShK machine gun took position on a catwalk that overlooked the control platform and began to fire down at Calvin and Emily

"Get down!" Calvin shouted as he pushed Emily down the ground and placed himself on top of her as the rounds fired by the DShK easily smashed through the bulletproof glass, raining broken glass down upon them before Toothless plasma blasted the heavy trooper, throwing him off the catwalk

"Calvin!" Emily screamed

"I'm fine Emily!" Calvin replied as he got up off her before helping her up

"Don't do that again!" Emily said to him as she punched him in the arm while Henderson, his squad, Ward, and Aberly took their first steps out of their holding chamber as the dragon riders and their mounts calmed the other post-human dragons

"Henderson over here!" Calvin shouted to Henderson, who looked up at him

"Calvin! Where's Sheva?!" Henderson asked him

"Over here!" Sheva replied as she ran to Henderson and nuzzled him affectionately

"Well now that's out of the way, can we get out of here now?" Snotlout asked Calvin, who nodded as Don got off the radio

"I've got some bad news for you guys, the railway tunnel we came through just collapsed." Don said to them as Calvin contacted his father with his radio

"Dad, it's Calvin, we've got a bit of a situation down here."

"What is it?" Karlson asked him over his translation collar's radio, "Did you find Henderson and the others?"

"We did, but the railway tunnel we used to get into the facility has collapsed taking our escape route with it, meaning the only way we're getting out of here now is by going up toward the battle." He replied, "And that's not going to be easy because Blackwater knows we're down here now and we don't know our way around this place."

"I hear you loud and clear." Karlson said to him over his translation collar's radio before he sighed, "There is no way any of us is going to able to get down there to help you, so you're going have to fight your way out of there by yourselves."

"Understood." Calvin replied as he ended the transmission, "Okay guys you heard him, we're going have to find and fight our way out of this hellhole."

"Shit Calvin, we don't even know where to go-. " Emily replied

"I do." A heavily scarred post-human Skrill said to them with a Roman accent as he limped out of his holding chamber, "I'm Tullus Salvius, the brother of Marcus Salvius and the true emperor of Rome."

"Why should we trust you then?! Your people are trying to kill us as much as they are!" Calvin replied as he motioned to the dead Blackwater troopers

"Look _Calvin_, I don't know who you are just as much as you know me, but I can ensure you that my people are only following my brother's leadership, which has been corrupted by Gene Corp's influence." Tullus said to him

"So what happened between you and Gene Corp that made them turn you into a dragon and place your brother on the throne?" Henderson asked him

"Let's just say that I and Yates didn't see eye to eye." Tullus replied, "I was on my way to negotiate a peace with the remaining German Tribes when Yates' Blackwater thugs ambushed me and my bodyguard in the guise of a German ambush in the Teutoburg Forest where they kidnapped me and brought me here and turned me into this dragon and then said I was killed in the battle so my brother could take the throne and continue the war against the Germans for Gene Corp's sake."

"Yeah that defiantly sounds like something Gene Corp will do, but why should we trust you?" Calvin asked him

"Because I want _revenge_ on Gene Corp and my brother for what they've done to me!" Tullus replied, "And you don't have any other choice!"

"He's right, we don't know." Henderson said to Calvin telepathically

"Okay…we'll trust you just this once, but if you betray us Tullus, I swear I will not left a finger to stop my father, the deputy commander of the APMSF 1st Stormtrooper Legion, from tearing into you." He replied

Tullus nodded

"You have my word Calvin." Tullus said to him

Calvin scowled

"Lead the way Romie." Calvin said to him Tullus, who nodded as he headed to the front of the group with Calvin and Emily as he led them out from the holding area

"I know the way out of here because I tried to escape this horrid place before and I almost did if it wasn't for that damned Sven Kjar and his hunter-killer team." Tullus said to Calvin and the others

"Who?" Calvin asked

"Sven Kjar, he and his men are some of the many dragon slayers and trappers that Gene Corp have employed to help them in their operations by capturing dragons for them to get the genetic material they need to keep their conversion camps running, Gene Corp also uses them along with specially trained squads of Blackwater troopers called hunter-killers to hunt down any post-human dragons that escape from their conversion camps or prisons like this one." Tullus replied, "He's the one who gave me these scars, I don't know if he's still around though because last time I heard Gene Corp sent him after some vigilante that's apparently been wreaking havoc on their operations."

"Yeah we've heard about her." Calvin said to him

"Hey are you sure you're going to be okay doing this?" Ward asked Tullus

"I'm going to be fine." Tullus replied before the ceiling shook from a large above ground explosion

"How far are we from the exit?" Calvin asked him

"Not that far." Tullus replied, "I can't wait to be finally free from this wretched place."

"Calvin are you sure we should be trusting this guy? Roman or not, I think a few of his screws might be loose." Sheva said to Calvin telepathically

"He seems to be pretty legit to me." He replied quietly

"Excuse me?" Tullus asked him

"Nothing." Calvin replied, "So where are we going?

"Somewhere up ahead is the chamber where the guards keep their motorized transports which is connected to the surface via a tunnel which leads out to the airstrip." Tullus said to him

"Maybe we can hijack a few of those trucks they used to bring us in here?" Henderson asked

"Good idea, it'll be a lot quicker than walking out of here, but that will also put us in the crosshairs of our own guys outside and plus I doubt there's enough of those trucks to carry all of us." Calvin replied

"What trucks?" Katrina asked him

"The trucks they used to bring us into the facility after we arrived here although we were knocked out when they did it." Sheva replied with her translation collar, "Which brings up the question, Tullus how the hell did you break out of your cell during your escape attempt?"

"I managed to overpower the guards when they came in to feed me, turns out those electric batons the guards use to control us recharge this body." Tullus said to her

"So how far to this chamber?" Calvin asked him

"Not that much farther." Tullus replied, "But be warned, there's probably going to be a _few_ guards in there."

"We wouldn't have brought guns if there wasn't a few guards hanging around." Calvin said

Meanwhile outside the facility, Erwin was flying with Margaret as they attacked the facility's radar station

"Erwin take out the radar while I take care of the guards!" Margaret shouted to Erwin, who nodded as he charged up a lighting blast and aimed for the radar dish before firing the lighting blast, electrifying it and frying the electronics inside the station, disabling the entire station

"I think its disabled!" Erwin shouted, "But just to be sure…Manfred, can you see this radar dish I'm flying in front of?!"

"Yeah I can see it, what about it?" Manfred asked him with his translation collar's radio

"Plasma blast it for me so we can be sure that it's disabled!" Erwin replied with his translation collar's radio

"Roger that!" Manfred said with his translation collar's radio as he turned around and dived towards the radar dish as he charged up a plasma blast while Erwin got out-of-the-way before he fired and destroyed the radar dish

"Thank you!" Erwin said to Manfred as he flew back into the skies with his translation collar's radio

"You're welcome!" Manfred replied with his radio as Margaret lighting blasted a Blackwater Heavy Trooper

"Come on Erwin let's get out of here!" Margaret shouted as she took off and joined Erwin as they flew away from the station

"Now what?" Erwin asked her

"I don't know the others are handing Blackwater's ass to them on a silver platter, there's not much left to do besides wait for Calvin and the others to get out of the facility with the prisoners they've freed." Margaret replied

"Should we go help them to make it go quicker?" Erwin asked her

"Nah we'll probably just get in their way." Margaret replied

Meanwhile back inside the facility, Tullus lead Calvin, Emily, Echo Squad, Henderson, Sheva, Bravo Squad, Ward, Aberly, and the other freed post-human dragons into the motor pool where they was only a surprisingly small number of guards, who were barricading the tunnel leading to the surface

"Huh I expected there where would be more guards than that." Tullus said quietly

"The rest of them must have headed to the surface or are searching for us." Calvin replied, "Okay Echo lets clear out these guys so we can blow this joint and go home."

"Proudly sir." Katrina said as she started to spin up her minigun and took the lead before she shouted to the Guards, "Hey boys, hungry for some lead?!"

"OH SHIT!" One of the Guards screamed as Katrina pulled the trigger on her minigun and unleashed a hail of fire onto the Guards, quickly mowing them down while Calvin broke into one of the heavy trucks that were parked in the motor pool

"Okay! Anybody who thinks they won't be able to make it out on here on foot get onto these trucks, the rest can walk!" Calvin shouted as he pulled open the driver's side door and got in while Emily got into the passenger seat

"Do you even know how to drive?" Emily asked him

"Sort of, one of the scientists at Area 51 gave some me driving lessons." Calvin replied as he hotwired the truck

"Who taught you how to do that?" Emily asked him as the engine started up

"My training instructor." Calvin replied as he looked back through the rear window as Ward, Tullus, Aberly, and Turner climbed onto the back while Don manned the DShK machine gun mounted behind the hood

"We're ready!" Don shouted as Emily smashed out part of the windshield with her foot so she could shoot out of it

"Second truck's ready!" Ronnie shouted as Fishlegs and Meatlug got into the back of his truck

"Third truck is ready!" Hazel shouted

"Fourth truck is ready!" Jordan shouted as Katrina got into the passenger seat next to him and did the same as Emily did, smashing a hole through the glass with her foot

"You guys going to be okay?" Calvin asked the dragon riders, Sheva, and Henderson

"Yeah! Now drive!" Hiccup replied

"Okay!" Calvin shouted as he pulled the truck into reverse and turned toward the tunnel before slamming his foot down on the throttle and sped through the tunnel while the others followed him

"Jesus fucking Christ, can he drive any faster?" Henderson asked Sheva as they ran alongside the other trucks with the other freed post-human dragons

"I have no idea!" She replied while Emily screamed as Calvin made a sharp turn

"DEAR NEPTUNE!" Tullus screamed, "SLOW DOWN OR YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US ALL YOU imbecile!"

"I AGREE WITH THE ROMAN, SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!" Emily screamed

"Okay, sorry!" Calvin said as he slightly slowed down as the other side of the tunnel came into view with an exosuit facing the other blocking it

"SPEED BACK UP! SPEED BACK UP!" Emily screamed

"MAKE UP YOUR MIND WOMAN!" Calvin replied as he slammed his foot down on the gas again and plowed the truck into the back of the exosuit, knocking it down

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" A Blackwater Trooper screamed as Emily flipped him and other the Blackwater troopers off as they drove by as Don mowed them down with the DShK as the others followed with the other freed post-human dragons attacking them as they poured out of the tunnel

"CALVIN?! Is that you guys down there?!" Karlson shouted to Calvin with his translation collar's radio

"Yes now tell the others to STOP SHOOTING AT US!" Calvin shouted back into his radio as he swerved to avoid a plasma blast from Barnes and then swerved again to avoid a lighting blast from Reaper before Calvin shouted at them over radio, "I SWEAR I AM GOING TO SHOOT BOTH OF YOU AFTER THIS IS OVER IF YOU FUCKING HIT US!"

"SHIT! Sorry!" Reaper shouted back to him

"CALVIN WATCH OUT!" Emily shouted

"What?!" Calvin replied before he noticed the large bomb crater in front of them, "Oh fuc-"

Calvin slammed his foot down on the break causing the truck to skid as it headed toward the crater

"Oh shit! Oh shit!" Don screamed before the truck toppled over into the crater while the other trucks went around it

"Calvin you're a good squad leader, soldier, and dragon, but god dammit you're a horrible fucking driver!" Don said to Calvin as Sheva and Henderson jumped into the crater and helped Calvin and Emily get out of the driver's cab

"Nice driving there." Ward said to Calvin as she, Tullus, Aberly, and Turner got up

"Hey at least you're all alive!" He replied as Henderson put him down on the ground as the rest of Task Force Therian began to form a perimeter around them and the other trucks as Osprey IIs and Mallards came down to evac the freed prisoners before Calvin looked at Emily as Sheva put her down, but didn't have to time to say anything before she wrapped her arms around and kissed him

"Let's get out of here so we can get married and get away from this damn war for a while!" Emily said to him

"You two are getting married?!" Ward shouted

"They'll tell you all about it on the way to the _Patton_." Barnes replied, "Now get on one of those VTOLs and get your asses out of here!"

"Amen to that!" Henderson said as he and Sheva went toward the nearest Osprey II, "So Sheva, did you tell me my family that I'm okay?"

"Uhhh yeah." She replied uneasily

"What's wrong?" Henderson asked her before she laughed uneasily

"My dad kind of invited them…to come back with us to the _Patton_." Sheva replied as Henderson's eyes widened and his frills dropped while he stopped on the ramp leading up in the Osprey II's cargo compartment as Sheva continued, "I was completely _against_ it by the way."

Henderson sighed as he continued up into the Osprey II's ramp into the cargo compartment as Ward, Calvin, Emily, and Aberly followed with the rest of Echo Squad

"So those devices you're wearing on your arms allow you to switch between human and dragon forms?" Ward asked Calvin and Emily while the former nodded

"Yeah, I'm who suggested it." He replied as Ward used one of her claws to pull down his arm to get a closer look at the transformation device

"I have so many fucking questions now that I don't even know where to begin!" Ward said to Calvin as Tullus came onto the Osprey before it lifted up its ramp and took off

"So where are we going now?" Tullus asked Calvin

"Back to our airship, the USAS _Patton_." He replied

"Airship?" Tullus asked Calvin

"You'll see when we get there." Calvin replied as he sat down on one of the benches with Emily and Echo Squad

"So what has my brother and Yates been up to besides starting this war?" Tullus asked him

"We've captured Yates and I think he's still in the _Patton_'s brig and your brother has taken over Gene Corp's assets and is continuing the war." Calvin replied

"That defiantly sounds like Marcus." Tullus said to him, "How do you capture Yates?"

"We attacked Gene Corp's HQ.' Calvin replied

"What about Rome?" Tullus asked him

Calvin sighed

"I don't know how to say this to you easily, but Rome's gone, one of Gene Corp's _little_ experiments went wrong and wiped it off the map a day ago and it's nothing more than radiated scorched land and glass." He said

Tullus' face went blank

"How man-?" He asked before Calvin interrupted him

"Just a few Gene Corp Scientists that got caught in the blast, the city was evacuated before it happened." Calvin replied, "Now if you mind I would like to get some rest, I've had a long day."

Tullus nodded sadly as Calvin laid his head back

"What the hell has going on out there?!" Henderson asked Sheva

"Gene Corp built another one of those dark energy reactor things beneath Rome and it exploded, destroying the city and creating two new rifts, which is how we got the Isotxians and the Western Hemispheric Federation." Sheva replied

"So the war's gone multi-dimensional?!" Henderson asked

Sheva nodded

"And now my daughter and mother-in-law are right in the middle of it…_perfect_." Henderson thought to himself before Sheva nudged him affectionately before Henderson nudged her back, "Well things aren't that _bad_."

The Osprey slowed down as it entered the _Patton_'s hangar bay with the other Ospreys

"Come on let's get out of here and get some sleep." Emily said to Calvin, who was already halfway asleep and stretched his arms out as he yawned before he got up and followed Emily out of the Osprey's cargo bay while Echo Squad followed them before Henderson, Sheva, Ward, Aberly, and Tullus

"So where are they?" Henderson asked Sheva as they stepped out of the Osprey

"They should be back in the VIP Quarters near the bridge." She replied, "I'll get somebody to go get them for you."

Henderson nodded as the rest of Bravo Squad joined him and Sheva

"I can't believe I'm actually happy to see the inside of this hangar again!" Dean shouted as Sheva told an APMSF Officer to go get Evie and Ellie from their quarters, who then got onto his radio

"Tell me about it!" Hernandez said, "Man I'm starving, when are we going to eat?!"

"Me too, I'm sure the 502nd keeps their dragon munchies around here somewhere." Turner replied

"Check the cargo hold, that's usually where they keep all the food, but don't let them catch you raiding it though because they can get quite _pissy_ about that." Ward said to them as the dragon riders landed behind them as the other freed post-human dragons disembarked from the Ospreys

"God Henderson you're filthy!" Sheva shouted when she realized that Henderson was covered in dirt and other debris

"Well unlike some people, I didn't get out a free get out of jail card, so I haven't really been able to bathe." Henderson replied

"We can't let Evie and Ellie see you like this!" Sheva said to him before she looked at a nearby APMSF Engineer and shouted at him with her translation collar, "Hey you!"

"Me?" The Engineer asked her

"Yes you, go get a hose or something and spray him down before his daughter gets here!" Sheva replied with her translation collar

"Yes ma'am!" The Engineer said as he ran across the hangar and grabbed a fire hose which he turned on and switched to low pressure before running back to Henderson and Sheva

"This isn't going to hurt is it?" Henderson asked him telepathically

"Nah, I set it to low pressure! Now hold still, this won't take more than a second!" The Engineer replied before he started to spray Henderson down with the hose, washing away the layers of filth covering Henderson's scales before the Engineer shut off the hose, "All done!"

Henderson shook off the excess water, splashing it all over the others around him

"Oh come on!" Hiccup shouted as Toothless laughed him before Hiccup flicked some water at him

"There much better!" Sheva said to Henderson, "Now you just need a translation col-!"

"Dad?" Ellie asked as she was led into the hangar by Evie and an APMSF Officer while Henderson froze

"Henderson is that you?" Evie asked Henderson

"I'll go get you a translation collar." The APM Engineer said as he dropped the fire hose and ran into the cargo bay while Henderson slowly turned to face Evie and Ellie

"You can do this." Sheva said to Henderson telepathically

Henderson took a deep breath and released

"Yeah Evie…it's me." He said to Evie telepathically

"You're bigger than I imagined you would be." Evie replied as Ellie broke away from her and ran to Henderson, latching onto his leg

"Daddy!" Ellie screamed as tears ran down her cheeks

"Hey pumpkin." Henderson said to his daughter telepathically

"See I told you your daddy was okay." Sheva said to Ellie with her translation collar as Henderson looked at Ellie

"Ellie you can let go of my leg now." Henderson said to Ellie telepathically

Ellie released Henderson's leg and took a few steps back as Henderson kneeled down

"Whoa…you look like an owl!" Ellie said to him

Henderson smiled and managed to chuckle

"Yeah I know that." He said to her as the Engineer came out of the cargo bay with a translation collar which he brought over to Henderson

"Here you go." The Engineer said to Henderson as he placed the collar around Henderson's neck and closed it

"Thank you." Henderson replied with his translation collar as Ellie hugged his head

"I love you daddy." Ellie said to him

"I love you too Ellie." He replied with his translation collar, "And it's going to take more than this to change that."

Henderson looked up at Sheva, who was trying to stop herself from crying, but smiled at Henderson as she laid down next to him while Bravo Squad gathered behind them

"Can you please stop staring at us? It's kind of rude you know?" Sheva asked Bravo Squad

"Sorry…" Dean replied as Bravo Squad dispersed as Henderson happily hummed as Evie came cover and gently felt the top of his head behind his horn

"You're still the same ole Henderson." Evie said to Henderson

**Drago Bludvist's Flagship; In Route to the Utansjo Holding Facility **

**1945 Hours **

General Walker was staring at the circle of bubbling water that was towing Drago's flagship through the Baltic toward the Utansjo Facility while Drago stood alongside him staring into it as well

"So this is the _Alpha_ you keep telling me about?" Walker asked Drago, "Impressive, but I'm sure that it wasn't easy taming it."

"It wasn't easy or cheap, but the result is worth the price because if you control the Alpha, you control the dragons." Drago replied, "It will do its purpose well as long as your men prevent the Coalition from concentrating their firepower on it after it emerges."

"That'll be easy, can it control post-humans?" Walker asked him

"I'm afraid that's one of its few weaknesses general, post-human dragons, although weak to your mind-controller collars, are completely immune to the Alpha's influence as we've learned with the Romans' post-humans and those we _liberated_ from the late Gene Corp's facilities, but unlike regular dragons, post-human dragons can be more than easily _persuaded_ through other means." Drago replied, "But once you're past the loyalty issues, the post-humans are as good as or even _better_ than regular dragons."

"We've noticed that as well." Walker said to him, "But anyway this thing isn't going to stand a chance if Task Force Therian and the Isotxians are allowed to concentrate their firepower on it and they no doubly will, so my forces are going to stage a diversionary attack to pull most of their forces away from the beachhead before we come in while the Fencers take care of the airships."


	23. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One: Drago Rising – Part Two

**Utansjo Holding Facility**

**Task Force Therian **

**March 23****rd****, 2246 **– **2030 Hours **

The sounds of the battle were slowly dying down as captured and injured Blackwater troopers and security personnel were being rounded up by the Isotxians and APMSF Stormtroopers to be transported to the brigs of the IAS _Mitchell _and USAS _Patton_, which were both now hovering overhead while Barnes, Erwin, Margaret, Karlson, Reaper, Catherine, Samantha, and the other post-human dragons regrouped with HHEF"s dragon riders outside the entrance of the Utansjo Holding Facility, which had now completely caved in

"Is everybody here?" Barnes shouted with his translation collar

"I think so." Reaper replied with his translation collar, "So I guess we're heading back to the _Patton _now?"

"Not yet dad, we're going to stick around until the Isotxians have gotten their guys out." Barnes said to him with his translation collar

"I think the Isos can take care of themselves Barnes." Reaper replied with his translation collar as Ferguson and Korensky landed in fron them

"I'm sorry to interrupt your little meeting, but we've got a bunch of ships heading this way from the North." Fergus said to Barnes

"What kind of ships?" He asked with him translation collar

"We don't know, but they certainly weren't any of ours because they all had masts, well most of them at least." Fergus replied, "It didn't look like they were local though either."

"Could it be that Drago Bludvist man we're always hearing about?" Karlson asked Barnes

"It's a possibility." He replied while Stoick landed with Skullcrusher before he dismounted and approached Barnes and the other post-human dragons

"Where's Hiccup?" Stoick asked Barnes

"He's back on the _Patton_, he and his friends helped Calvin, Emily, Sheva, and their team find and rescue Henderson and the others." He replied with his translation collar

Stoick nodded

"How is Henderson anyway? I kind of always wanted to thank him for saving my rear end from that Roman Stormcutter on Berk, but never got the chance because he unknowingly got infected by the little machine in the Stormcutter's blood and turned into one." He asked Barnes

"Well when I saw him, he appeared to be fine." Barnes replied with his translation collar, "But now he's probably enjoying his reunion with his family, who thanks to Karlson's handy work, is on the _Patton _as well."

"Good, he deserves it." Stoick said, "So is there something going on that I don't know about?"

"Well the captain here is saying that he and Corporal Korensky saw a fleet of ships sailing this way." Barnes replied with his translation collar

"A fleet?" Stoick asked him, "Is it Drago's?"

"We don't know." Reaper replied with his translation collar as an APMSF Officer approached him and Karlson after making his way through the crowd of post-human dragons

"Sirs, we're receiving reports of large Blackwater and unidentified forces converging on our positions around the facility from the North and South, what should we do?" The APMSF Officer asked Reaper and Karlson

"Unidentified forces?" Karlson asked with him his translation collar

"We don't know who they are sir, but they and Blackwater seem to be working together." He replied, "Should we engage?"

"Yes, but only long enough to slow them down until the Isotxians can finish withdrawing their forces before we pull out ourselves." Reaper said to him with his translation collar

"Yes sir." The APMSF Officer replied before he walked away

"Well that doesn't sound go-!" Karlson said before he was cut short by the sound of super-sonic cruise missiles screaming through the air above them before they crashed into the _Mitchell_'s starboard side and exploded, knocking out two of its six super-heavy turbofan engines causing the heavy air cruiser to list heavily to that side as columns of smoke billowed out from the holes in its hulls created by the cruise missiles

"BLOODY HELL!" Fergus screamed as the _Mitchell_ struggled to stay in the air as another salvo of cruise missiles were launched at it and the _Patton_, the latter's CIWS batteries immediately coming online to intercept the incoming missiles as they flew toward it as the _Patton _itself began to maneuver to avoid the incoming missiles as they screamed toward it

**USAS **_**Patton **_**– Hangar Bay **

Henderson was letting Ellie ride on his back while he walked around the hangar with Samuel, Evie, and Sheva when they heard the explosions outside

"What was that?" Ellie asked as she and the others turned to look out the hangar bay doors and saw the listing _Mitchell_ as smoke billowed out of her hull

"Oh now it's the _Wasp_ all over again!" Henderson replied with his translation as the _Patton_'s CIWS batteries began to fire at the swarm of cruise missiles flying toward her and the damaged _Mitchell_

"INCOMING!" Samuel screamed as the first cruise missiles struck the _Patton_'s shields shaking the hull of the airship

"GENERAL QUARTERS, GENERAL QUARTERS, ALL PERSONNEL MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! I REPEAT ALL PERSONNEL MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! SHIELDS ARE AT 85 %!" An APM Officer shouted over the PA system as three more cruise missiles struck the _Mitchell_, but failed to bring it down as the Isotxian heavy air cruiser began at the incoming cruise missiles with its anti-air batteries while another three struck the _Patton_'s shields causing them to flicker

"Daddy what's going on?!" Ellie screamed

"Just stay calm Ellie! I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you!" Henderson replied with his translation collar as Evie and Samuel climbed onto Sheva as more cruise missiles struck the _Patton_'s shields as they started to fail while another wave of cruise missiles flew toward the _Patton_ and the _Mitchell_, both of which were now trying to maneuver to avoid the incoming missiles before several of them struck the _Mitchell_, severely damaging her hull although she still managed to stay in the air as the _Patton_'s hull was struck, shaking the airship and causing the lights in the hangar bay to flicker as hangar bay blast doors began to close

"They're going to lock us in here!" Evie screamed, "What if we need to evacuate?!"

"FIREFIGHTING TEAMS REPORT TO ENGINE ROOM!" The APM Officer shouted over the PA system while the _Mitchell _and the _Patton_ began to perform maneuvers to avoid the incoming missiles as another one struck the _Patton_ near the hangar bay, knocking out of the CIWS guns followed by three more before the APM Officer shouted again; "STARBOARD CIWS BATTERIES ARE OFFLINE!"

"Oh gods." Hiccup replied as the other cruise missiles approached as the _Mitchell_ put all its power into its engines and positioned itself in front of the cruise missiles flying toward the _Patton_ while most of its crew and passengers evacuated using the dropships or by parachuting out

"What are they doing?!" Samuel shouted

"They're saving us!" Henderson replied with his translation collar as the cruise missiles meant for the _Patton_ struck the _Mitchell_ with one of them penetrating it's armor and hitting the ammo and powder handling and stowage chambers for its starboard 11inch guns and exploded causing a massive chain reaction that destroyed the _Mitchell_ in a massive fireball, ripping the heavy air cruiser in half and both ends plummeting into the fjord while the shockwave from the blast was powerful enough that it pushed the _Patton _away while shaking it violently

"Sheva?! Calvin?! Emily?! Are you guys there?! REPORT!" Karlson shouted over the radio of Henderson's translation collar

"We're here dad!" Sheva replied with her translation collar's radio

"Thank god." Karlson said in relief through the radio, "Where's your brother?"

"Last time we saw him and Emily went back to their quarters, we haven't heard from them since!" Henderson replied with his translation collar's radio

Karlson sighed

"Stay where you are, we're coming your way now!" He shouted with his translation collar's radio

Meanwhile in Calvin's Quarters, Calvin and Emily were rushing to get dressed after being abruptly awaken from their sleep by the screaming APM Officer over the PA system and the impacts on the shield and hull by the cruise missiles

"Well that was a bright idea!" Calvin shouted to Emily before he started to mimic her, "Come on Calvin lets trying sleep together without any clothes on while there is still a battle going on outside!"

"Oh you enjoyed and you know it!" Emily shouted back as she slipped her undershirt on over her head

Calvin sighed

"You're right, I did." He said as he placed his blouse on over his undershirt and started to button it up, "Be sure to get wedding dress packed up just in case we need to evacuate!"

"Okay!" Emily replied as she put her own blouse on and started to button it up, "Should we put our armor on?"

"Of course!" Calvin said

"Calvin?! Emily?! Are you two there?!" Karlson shouted over Calvin's radios with his translation collar's radio before Calvin picked it up and responded

"Yeah dad, we're here, we're just getting dressed."

"Do I even need to ask why your clothes were off?" Karlson asked him with his translation collar's radio

"Uhhhh…" Calvin replied

"Forget that I ever asked." Karlson said with his translation collar's radio, "Whenever you two lovebirds are done doing whatever you're doing, report to the hangar bay."

"Okay did." Calvin replied before Karlson ended the transmission and Calvin placed the radio back down on his desk before he continued to button up and straighten out his blouse while Emily did the same

"Maybe we can do it later?" Emily asked him

"Yeah maybe if we survive whatever is about to start happening." He replied as he rushed to start putting his armor on

"So Calvin if we were to ever _do it_. What species would want you to do _it _in?" Emily asked Calvin as she started to place her own armor on

"Do you want to do _it_?" Calvin asked her

"Well not now! But _if _we were to do it someday, what species would you want to do it as?" She asked him

"I don't know actually." He replied, "I want to try doing it as a human."

"But we don't even know how to do _it_ as humans!" Emily asked him

"Do we really have to refer to having sex as _doing it_?" He asked her, "I think we're a bit passed that stage."

"Yeah you're right we are." Emily replied as Calvin placed his transformation device onto his arm

"But I think we can learn how to do it, I mean eating human food, using silverware, and firing a gun almost came naturally to both us, so why not having sex?" Calvin asked her

"True." She replied, "But we probably should continue this discussion sometime later."

Emily placed her transformation device onto her arm and started to carefully pack her wedding dress into her rucksack, but suddenly stopped

"Calvin do you have a feeling that something really _bad_ is about to happen?" Emily asked him

"I always have a feeling something bad is about to happen Emily, what makes this any different?" He replied

"I mean really, I just feel something tingling inside my head." Emily said to him as she continued to pack her wedding dress into her rucksack before zipping it up and putting it on her back

"Yeah you're right, I'm feeling that too." He replied, "But I've never felt that before, I almost think something is trying to get into our heads."

"Maybe we should ask the others if they're feeling it?" Emily asked him

"Yeah we should when we get to the hangar." He replied

**Utansjo Holding Facility**

**Hairy Hooligan Expeditionary Forces (HHEFs) **

Stoick was helping two Isotxian air marines pull out a wounded comrade out from under a piece of wreckage from the _Mitchell_ when Skullcrusher's pupils suddenly shrunk into small silts and the rumblehorn looked up into the air and roared while the other HHEF's dragon mounts did the same

"What's going on Skullcrusher?" Stoick asked his dragon, who didn't even look at Stoick before he flew off with the other HHEF dragon mounts to a large ship being tugged by something it was chained to beneath a circle of bubbling water in front of it

"Oi what's happening with your flying lizards?" One of the Isotxian Air Marines asked Stoick

"I don't know…" Stoick replied as he looked at the ship as the dragons flew in a massive circle around the circle of bubbling water as a small motorboat was lowered into the water off the ship's starboard before it's motor was turned on and it sailed toward the shore as Ferguson, Korensky, and a large group of Isotxian air marines and paratroopers went to the shore to get a closer look as the motorboat came ashore and two men, one of them in the uniform of a high-ranking Blackwater Officer jumped off

"What the bloody hell do you two blokes want?" Ferguson asked the largest man as he wearingly eyed the Blackwater Officer standing next to him

"Your surrender." The Man replied, "I am Drago Bludvist and this is my _associate_, General Patrick Walker, the commander of the Blackwater Forces in Scandinavia, who have decided to give their loyalty to me after the fall of Gene Corp."

"What makes you think we're going to surrender to _yo_u, Drago Bludvist?!" Ferguson asked him, "We might be down one airship, but we're still strong enough to fight off whatever you and Blackwater can throw at us."

Drago looked up at the heavily damaged _Patton_, its plasma cannon and cruise missile batteries disabled in the attack

"You may want to reconsider your decision Isotxian." Drago said to Ferguson as Stoick and the other Hairy Hooligan dragon riders joined the Isotxians

"What have you done to our dragons?!" Stoick shouted after forcing his way through the gathered Isotxians before he saw Drago, "Drago Bludvist."

"Stoick the Vast…what a surprise, I thought you were dead after our last encounter." Drago replied

"You've two met before?" Ferguson asked Stoick, who nodded

"He's killed a lot of good chieftains." He replied as he drew out his sword and pointed it at Drago, "I will ask you again Drago, what are you doing to our dragons?!"

Drago laughed

"Your dragons?!" He shouted at Stoick, "They might have been yours before, but they're mine now!"

"Oi! You give them back their dragons before I have my lads and lasses here fill you up with hot lead!" Ferguson shouted to Drago

"I'd like to see you try." He replied as Barnes and the other post-human dragons landed behind the crowd of Isotxians and Vikings, who made way for Barnes as he came to the front while Drago smiled, "A Night Fury?! I thought I never one of you, at least a live one."

Barnes snorted angrily and sat up

"The name's Barnes, what do you want?" Barnes asked with his translation collar

"Ahhh yes, General Barnes, General Walker here has told me much about you." Drago replied

"He wants us to surrender him." Korensky said to Barnes telepathically

"Why do you think we're going to surrender to you?" Barnes asked Drago with his translation collar

"Because I control the Vikings' dragons and our armies outnumber you three to one." He replied

"We've faced those kind of odds before, ask Walker, who I believe was one of the two Blackwater Commanders we fought against in the Archipelago Campaign." Barnes said to him with his translation collar, "And we won that by the way."

"This is worthless!" Walker shouted

"I agree…" Drago replied as he rose up his bullhook-like staff and started to shout as he swung it around over his head and summoned his Bewilderbeast, which emerged out from the circle of bubbling water in front of his flagship before it looked at its master, who pointed his bullhook at the gathered Isotxians, Vikings, and Americans who were staring in shock at the large dragon before them, "DESTROY THEM!"

"OH FUCK! EVERYBODY FALL BACK!" Barnes shouted with his translation collar as he and the other post-human dragons took off into the air as the Vikings and Isotxians fled from the Bewilderbeast as it lumbered ashore after them and began to shoot out a stream of super-cooled water which froze into giant spires of ice on contact with anything it touched while the rest of Drago's Army started to land on the beach behind the Bewilderbeast, deploying their dragon traps and siege weapons while releasing Drago's war dragons from their cages as post-human dragons, who had been "freed" from the Gene Corp Conversion Camps taken by Drago and conscripted into his army followed

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" Samantha screamed, "STOICK WASN'T KIDDING ABOUT THIS GUY!"

"WE NEED TO HELP MY DAD AND HIS MEN, THEY'RE SITTING DUCKS WITHOUT THEIR DRAGONS!" Hiccup shouted to Barnes

"Shit you're right!" He replied with his translation collar as Drago's Bewilderbeast annihilated a brigade of Isotxian Tiny Tims by freezing them with its icy breath while the other remaining Tiny Tims reversed away from it and Drago's advancing army as they fired their weapons at the Bewilderbeast, who didn't even seemed to be phased by it

"We'll rescue Stoick and his men, you guys keep those dragons off our backs!" Henderson shouted with his translation collar's radio as he led his squad, Aberly, Ward, Tullus, and the other post-human dragons freed from the facility out of the _Patton's_ hangar bay with Calvin, Emily, and Echo Squad riding on Henderson and his squad

"Roger that!" Barnes replied with his translation collar's radio as Henderson dived down and grabbed both Stoick and Gobber with his claws before he flew back into the sky

"You guys okay down there?!" Henderson shouted to Stoick and Gobber with his translation collar

"Yes!" Stoick shouted to Henderson, "It's good to see you again Sergeant Henderson!"

"Where are you taking us?" Gobber asked Henderson

"I'm taking you guys to the _Patton_!" Henderson replied with his translation collar

"No without getting our dragons back first!" Stoick shouted to him

"Stoick, I know you're attached to your dragon, but we don't know if we'll able to free it from…whatever the fucking hell that thing is!" Henderson replied with his translation collar, "And I have my daughter and mother-in-law on the _Patton_ wanting me to return to them safely!"

Stoick nodded

"I understand." Stoick shouted

"Dad!" Hiccup shouted to Stoick as he and Toothless shadowed Henderson

"Hiccup! Why isn't Toothless and the others' dragons being controlled by that dragon?!" Stoick asked him

"I don't know, I think it has to do something with the armor!" He replied

"We've got hostile dragon riders and helos heading for the _Patton_, looks like they're going to try boarding her!" Ward shouted over her translation collar's radio as a large group of conscripted post-human dragons with Blackwater troopers riding them flew toward the _Patton_ followed by a formation of transport helicopters

"Ellie! Evie!" Henderson screamed as he sped toward the _Patton_ followed by Sheva and Jasmine, the latter of which had Calvin and Emily riding on her, but they both quickly jumped onto Sheva as Jasmine flew over her

"Henderson, you get Evie and Ellie and get them somewhere they'll be safe! We'll take care of these guys!" Calvin shouted to Henderson, who nodded as Sheva and Bravo Squad broke off to engage the post-human dragons and Blackwater troopers trying to board the _Patton_ while Henderson, Toothless, and Hiccup flew into the _Patton_'s hangar bay with Henderson dropping Stoick and Gobber on the floor before he landed as Evie, Ellie, Samuel, Erwin Sr. and Maria came out of the cargo bay

"Henderson?! What's going on out there?!" Evie shouted

"No time to explain! Hurry up and climb on!" Henderson shouted to Evie and Ellie with his translation collar before a post-human Monstrous Nightmare landed behind him a

"DAD! WATCH OUT!" Ellie screamed as the Monstrous Nightmare lunged at her father, who dodged the Monstrous Nightmare and roared angrily at it before Toothless blasted the Monstrous Nightmare with a fully charged plasma blast and killing him as the _Patton's_ alarms started to go off as another wave of cruise missiles appeared on the horizon flying toward the _Patton_

"Oh no!" Hiccup said as Evie, Ellie, Maria, Erwin Sr. and Samuel rushed to get onto Henderson while Sheva landed in the hangar bay with Calvin and Emily, who Stoick and Gobber joined

"I think we'll be better off if we transform for this!" Emily said to Calvin

"We don't have time!" Calvin replied as the _Patton_'s crew rushed into the hangar bay to board the escape VTOLs as the first cruise missiles struck the _Patton_'s starboard, shaking the entire airship and causing the lights in the hangar to flicker

"Let's get out of here!" Evie screamed to Henderson, who took off followed by Sheva and Toothless out of the _Patton_'s hangar bay followed by the escape VTOLs as the rest of the cruise missiles started to hit the _Patton_, knocking out both of her starboard plasma engines that helped keep the _Patton_ in the air causing her to fall out of the sky

"The _Patton_'s going down!" Barnes screamed over his translation collar as the last remaining Vikings and Isotxian Soldiers were rescued by Task Force Therian and the rescued post-human dragons while the VTOLs of the APMSF 1st Stormtrooper Legion took off and fled high to the skies where Drago's war dragons and post-human dragon conscripts were unable to reach them before the _Patton_ hit the ground and slid across it, creating a massive trench in its wake before it stopped, becoming the first American airship in history to be lost in combat

"WE'VE GOT AN AIRSHIP DOWN! I REPEAT WE'VE GOT AN AIRSHIP DOWN!" Karlson shouted over his translation collar's radio as the _Patton_'s fusion reactor went unstable and exploded, destroying the downed airship completely and sending a bright blue mushroom-shaped cloud rising into the air while Drago's war and post-human dragons surrounded Task Force Therian and the Dragon Riders

"WE'RE SURROUNDED!" Karlson shouted with his translation collar

"We can see that Karlson!" Reaper replied

"Well I guess this is it then!" Erwin shouted with his translation collar, "It was an honor serving with all of you!"

"Same here!" Barnes replied with his translation collar as Drago's dragons prepared to launch their attack to finish off Task Force Therian and the dragon riders before the 502nd and the APMSF 1st Stormtrooper Legion's F-45s and A-15s along with the surviving Isotxian Air Navy Hellcats descended from the night skies firing everything they had into the swarm

"YOU GUYS GET TO THE MOUNTAINS! WE'LL KEEP THESE GUYS OFF YOU AS LONG AS WE CAN!" Ramirez shouted over the radio

"GOD FUCKING BLESS YOU RAMIREZ!" Barnes shouted to Ramirez and the other 502nd pilots with his translation collar's radio as he and the others fled toward the mountains while Walker and Drago watched

"GOD DAMMIT! THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!" Walker shouted as Blackwater fighter aircraft flew to intercept the F-45s and Hellcats as Drago's dragons struggled to regroup as Task Force Therian and the Viking Dragon Riders escaped into the night flying toward the mountains

"It matters not, we've destroyed their airships and humiliated them." Drago replied, "They'll be back for us sooner or later and we'll be ready for them."

"I would rather finish them off now, but okay." Walker said as Drago's Bewilderbeast returned to the sea and disappeared beneath the waves as Walker continued, "But that shouldn't stop us from at least trying to capture them."

Drago nodded

Meanwhile, Task Force Therian and the dragon riders were flying as fast as they could toward the mountains

"Dear Odin, we got our asses kicked back there!" Astrid shouted

"I'd rather have my ass kicked than having it get torn apart by dragons!" Barnes replied with his translation collar

"So what are we going to do now?" Reaper asked him with his translation collar

"First of all we need to find a place to take shelter in, preferably a cavern of some sort to get some rest and lay low for a while because Drago and Walker are no doubly going have their men combing the area looking for us." He replied with his translation collar, "Then after things die down we'll fly west until we hit the Atlantic Coast and fly south until we hit mainland Europe and link up with Coalition forces and then after that we come back with a fucking army and show Drago and his _little _fucking pet what happens when you mess with the best."

"Sounds good enough to me." Karlson said as Sheva flew back to check to Henderson

"Are they okay?" Sheva asked Henderson as she looked up at Evie and Ellie, the latter of which was crying as the former tried to calm her

"Depends on what you mean by okay." He replied, "What about you?"

"I'm a little shook up, but I think I'm going to be fine." Sheva said, "What about you?"

"Same as you." Henderson replied

"Hey Calvin, didn't you say that there was some kind of dragon vigilante running around out here?!" Pentrov shouted to Calvin with his left head's translation collar's radio

"According to the Blackwater guys I talked to while I was Mr. Yolanda, yeah there is, but hopefully we manage to avoid attracting her attention because I doubt she's going to like us very much." He replied

"I still want to have a little talk with her and her Stormcutter about that little stunt they pulled off earlier in Denmark." Barnes said to them with his translation collar's radio, "But for now we need to find a place to crash for the night and get some rest because god knows we need it after that fucking mess."

"Agreed." Erwin said as he yawned as Margaret flew with him and his brothers and sister

However unbeknownst to the post-human dragons or the dragon riders, they were being watched by the masked Vigilante and her Stormcutter from the nearby clouds

"So are we going to purge them?" The Stormcutter asked his rider telepathically

"No, these false dragons are not like the ones we've encountered before." The Vigilante replied as she eyed the false male Stormcutter with the elderly woman and young child riding on him and the false female Stormcutter that was flying alongside him that two Vikings, both of which the Vigilante painfully remembered from her past and two armored human soldiers along with the true Night Fury with the prosthetic red tail flap who was flying alongside the false Night Furies leading the group with its rider, who was wearing the almost the same armor as the two soldiers riding the false female Stormcutter

"I sense it too, they are different from the others, but that doesn't mean we should trust them." The Stormcutter said telepathically, "So what are we going to do with them?"

"I don't know yet." The Vigilante said as she and her dragon continued to follow the false dragons and their Viking dragon rider companions

**Cape Girardeau, Missouri – Coalition Verse **

**APM Command Bunker; Presidential Living Quarters **

**March 24****th****, 2246 – 0214 Hours **

President Paxton was sleeping in his bed when he was abruptly awakened by the sound of his phone, that was located on the dress next to him, started ringing

"Who can that be?" Paxton asked as he looked at the Caller ID and saw that it was General Smict and sighed before he picked it up, "What is General?"

"Mr. President…the USAS _Patton _has been shot down." Smict replied after some hesitation

Paxton immediately sat up in his bed

"What happened?! What about Task Force Therian?!" Paxton asked Smict

"According to the survivors, it and the Isotxian airship it was with, the IAS _Mitchell_ were both shot down by ground-based supersonic anti-airship cruise missiles using swarm tactics that overwhelmed its CIWS defenses and shields." Smict replied, "And the whereabouts of Task Force Therian or if they're even still alive is currently…unknown." He replied

"Oh god…I thought they were just going on a simple rescue mission?!" Paxton asked him

"That's what we thought too, but things got complicated, Drago Bludvist and his army showed up as an ally of the Blackwater forces up there and summoned a large dragon that our dragonologists here are identifying as a Bewilderbeast which somehow took control of the HHEF's dragon mounts and wiped out the Isotxian Strike Force." He replied

"What are our options?" Paxton asked him

"We don't have very many, we can't launch a full-scale invasion of Scandinavia because we just don't have the manpower for it now since everything is now dedicated one way or another to the fighting on mainland Europe where the Romans and the Blackwater forces there are really turning up the heat and launched several major counter-attacks against the Isotxians and managed to retake some ground from them." Smict replied

"Shit." Paxton said under his breath before he continued, "So what else can we do then?"

"Well the last time anybody had contact with Barnes and the rest of Task Force Therian, they were fleeing into the mountains after being rescued by the 502nd and the aircraft of the APMSF 1st Stormtrooper Legion, who launched a brief counter-attack to cover their retreat from the facility after the _Patton_ was shot down." Smict replied, "So if they're alive, they're probably either heading or in the mountains staying low as Drago Bludvist and his men are no doubly combing the entire region for them."

"What are the Isotxians saying about this?" Paxton asked him

"Long story short, they're fucking pissed off as Field Marshal Erwin Schnitter the 30th, his wife, and their children were also last seen with the post-human dragons." He replied, "But they can't do anything about it either now because all their forces are being tied down trying to contain the Romans' new counter-attacks."

**Chicago, Capital Province – Isotx Verse **

**Isotxian Self-Defense Forces Central Command (ISDFCC) – Emergency Meeting **

The Federal Republic of Isotx's head of state, Prime Minister Omerson Vincent and his Minister of Defense, Janet Jayme were sitting at the head of a table surrounded by his other most trusted ministers and the Federal Republic of Isotx's best military commanders including the Field Marshals and Grand Admirals with the exception of Field Marshal Erwin Schnitter the 30th, who was hopefully only temporarily replaced by General Omar Yarden, the commander of the Isotxian 1st Army who taken temporary control of Army Group Alpha

"In less than thirty minutes this _Drago Bludvist_ and his dragon-backed armies combined with General Patrick Walker's separatist Blackwater forces destroyed one of our airships and completely wiped out four entire divisions of paratroopers and air marines, many of them veterans of the European or Pacific Theaters possibly along with the entire Schnitter family." Janet Jayme said to the Prime Minister and the gathered Isotxian Military men

"How is this possible?! I thought we had the situation in the Viking Verse under control?!" Asked Field Marshal Douglas Smurfbitzkit, the commander of Army Group Delta

"That's what we though too before we ran into this Drago guy." Replied Director Clement Luque, the head of Isotxian Military Intelligence, "The control that Drago has over his dragons is so efficient, that he could summon and control his so-called 'Bewilderbeast' by simply waving his bullhook around and giving it verbal commands while the Bewilderbeast itself had an unrivaled ability to control Drago's other war dragons while his post-humans, although not as skilled as Task Force Therian's, were equally terrifying."

"What do you suggest then?" Omar Yarden asked him

"We need to devote more manpower and material into fighting Blackwater, Drago, Walker's separatists, and the Romans." Jayme replied, "We might as well face it, the Home Army is just simply not up to the task because it was never made for full-scale offensive operations such as this one…we need to form another Army Group for this."

"Another Army Group?! Can our economy handle that?!" Asked Grand Admiral Chester Mainmeister, the commander of the Grand Pacific Fleet

"Do not underestimate our industrial capacity Grand Admiral." Said Minister Leonie Dekkter, the head of the Isotxian Ministry of Production, "Our experts say that our military even at its current size can sustain itself even if only 10% of our current industrial capacity is supporting it although it does mean we're going have to call off any planned large-scale offensives against the Eastern Empire and our new enemies for the foreseeable future until we sort out the logistics of such a great task."

"Impressive, makes me wonder how we haven't this damn war yet and I don't mean this so-called _Second_ Gene Corp War!" Replied Field Marshal Bernard Abra the 5th, the commander of Army Group Bravo, "And who will lead Army Group Echo once it's ready? Chadaface?"

"Chadaface is too irrational and aggressive to be trusted with such a position, if we knew here he was, I would suggest Major General Erwin Schnitter the 31st because his father thought he was ready for a bigger position." Yarden replied

"I doubt that is what he meant Yarden." Replied Grand Admiral Shirley Joyce, the commander of the Grand Atlantic Fleet, "But that is not saying that Erwin Schnitter the 31st _and_ his brothers couldn't handle it."

"I think we should also consider dedicating some resources into developing more efficient tactics and weapons to counter dragons, both the natural and the post-human ones because it's quite obvious now they're going to be a problem for us unless we do something." Clement replied, "I know this may sound a bit _extreme_, but we did capture a lot of Gene Corp's conversion technology when we took control of their headquarters along with most of the people who know how to use it and we have managed to get a sample of the new nanites that the Americans have developed to use with their transformation devices."

"Are you suggesting we start turning people into post-human dragons Clement?!" Yarden shouted, "Have you gone mad?!"

"As bad as it sounds, he has a point." Jayme replied, "To what we've seen so far, the best way to counter a post-human dragon is with another post-human dragon."

"How do these transformation devices work?" Leonie asked Clement

"They send electrical signals along with the DNA of the creature that the people using it wants to turn into to the nanites in his or her bloodstream, who absorb the DNA and do their thing." He replied, "And we also managed to get our hands on a spare that the Americans had handy on the _Patton_ before it was shot down and they shouldn't be that hard to reverse engineer."

"The fact that you're stealing technology from the people who are supposed to be our allies is disturbing enough, but you're also suggesting that we take away people's humanity from them just to counter the people the enemy is doing it too, mostly against their will and I doubt the Coalition is going to be very fond of it either." Foreign Minister Korensky said to Clement

"To hell with what the Coalition thinks! Unlike Gene Corp we're a sovereign nation with a powerful military and an equally powerful economy to back it, so we can make our fucking decisions!" Field Marshal Smurfbitzkit shouted, "Just use volunteers as long as we let them know what we're doing to them!"

"What kind of reasonable person will subject themselves to being turned into a dragon, even _if_ we manage to reverse engineer the Americans' transformation devices and the nanites?!" Korensky asked him

"Well think about it Joseph, there are hundreds if not _thousands_ of our people who want to serve their country, but are not physically fit for combat and the nanites will fix that." Clement replied, "Not to mention we found some research that Gene Corp was doing that shows the nanites also regenerate any limbs that the person who had been injected with them had lost and I'm sure there is plenty of unreasonable people out there as well."

Prime Minister Vincent sighed and stood up, making everybody in the room got silent as he spook

"We all know what it's like to make sacrifices just to survive in this frequently cruel world that we inhabit from simple rations all the way to losing loved ones at home or on distant battlefields and this war is not any different, we have to take risks and we have to make sacrifices if we are to prevail against our enemies, both here and in the other worlds ours is now attached to…how long will it take to start up a post-human conversion program?"

"Depends on how long it takes to set up the equipment and convince the non-insane and non-sociopathic Gene Corp Scientists we've captured to work for us and then we'll have to reverse engineer the American transformation devices and the nanites they use, which probably won't take too long, but I can't promise anything because this is uncharted territory for us." Clement said to him, "We'll also have to send people out to get dragon DNA because we only samples for a few species."

"Take as long as you need." The Prime Minister replied before he looked at Korensky and Leonie, "Korensky I want you to travel back to the United States and see if you can secure a deal with their President to purchase samples of their weapons from them so our engineers can study and reverse engineer them. Leonie I want you to make sure we have the means to produce those weapons when they start becoming available along with setting up the production lines for the equipment that our post-human dragons, whenever they come, need to be effective including armor and translation collars."

Korensky and Leonie nodded as Vincent turned his attention to Jayme

"And Jayme I want you to begin organizing the creation of Army Group Echo along with a small naval fleet to go with it." He said to her

Jayme nodded

"I'll get right on it Ome." She replied

"Any objections?" Vincent asked the Field Marshals and Grand Admirals, but got no response, "Good, now get back to your posts, you all have theaters to manage."

**Somewhere in the Scandinavian Mountains**

**Task Force Therian**

**0607 Hours **

Night was slowly giving way to-day as Calvin struggled to stay awake as Emily, Stoick, and Gobber slept behind him while they rode on Sheva while she, the other post-human dragons, and the dragon riders flew through the mountains trying to find a place to take shelter in

"Look! Looks like there's a cavern or something down there to our right near that small lake!" Erwin shouted with his translation collar's radio to Barnes

"See it too! Let's check it out!" He replied with his translation collar's radio

"Calvin?! Are you still there?!" Karlson shouted to Calvin with his translation collar's radio

"Yeah…yeah." He replied tiredly with his radio before he elbowed Emily to wake her up

"What…?" Emily said as she rose her head and looked around, "I Must have dosed off, where are we?!"

"I don't know." Calvin replied

"Calvin you and your squad go into this cavern first and check it out and tell us if it's safe!" Barnes shouted to Calvin with his translation collar's radio

"Roger that." He replied before he shouted to Echo Squad over his comms," Look alive Echo Squad, we're going in!"

Sheva landed a short distance from the cavern entrance with Bravo Squad to allow Calvin, Emily, and Echo Squad to dismount

"Katrina, you're on point!" Calvin shouted to Katrina, who nodded as she took the lead while Calvin, Emily, and the rest of Echo Squad followed her into the cave and turned on their night vision while Sheva, Bravo Squad, and the others stayed behind and kept a look out for Blackwater aircraft or Drago's dragons

"HELLO?! IS ANYBODY HOME!?" Jordan shouted into the dark depths of the cavern with the response he received being his echo and the dripping of water from the cavern's roof before Ronnie loaded a red flare into the grenade launcher mounted under his pulse rifle and fired it down the cave, illuminating it before it hit the end and went out

"Okay guys, it's all clear! You can come in!" Calvin shouted to the others over his radio as he sat down against a stalagmite and took off his helmet while Barnes led the other post-human dragons and the dragon riders into the cavern with the Fergus, the other Isotxians, and the former Hairy Hooligan dragon riders following behind them

"Well this place looks all nice and cozy." Fergus said as he looked around the cavern before he looked back at some of the other Isotxians, "Two of you guy back out and gather some firewood."

Two Isotxian Air Marines ran back out of the cavern to go gather firewood while Emily joined Calvin in sitting against the stalagmite

"Are you okay?" Emily asked him

"Yeah I'm fine, just tired as hell, been awake all night." He replied as the others started to lay down wherever they could on the floor of the cavern to get some rest

"Come on let's find a place to strip down in here so we can transform, I think we've had enough 'fun' in these bodies for one day." Emily said as to him as she got up

Calvin sighed and stood up and followed Emily deeper into the cavern while Henderson entered the cavern with Evie, Ellie, and Samuel still on his back

"We'll get off here." Samuel said to Henderson as he patted him on the side of the neck

Henderson nodded and lowered himself to the ground so Evie, Samuel, and Ellie could climb off him

"So are we going to be safe in here?" Samuel asked Barnes, who was laying down with Samantha, Leon, and Zoey nearby

"As long as we don't do anything to attract attention to ourselves, yes." He replied with his translation collar as Henderson lifted himself up and went to go find a spot to lay down in

"Awww man I'm so out of shape now." Henderson thought to himself before he found a comfortable spot and laid down in it while Evie and Ellie walked over and sat down next to him

"Well some joyous reunion this is turning out to be." Evie said to Henderson, who snorted

"You guys should've stayed home." He replied telepathically

"I know, we were stupid." Evie said to him as she rubbed one of her hands through Ellie's hair as she cuddled next to her, "But at least you're out of that dreadful place now."

"I guess that's true although this isn't any better." Henderson replied before he yawned and placed his head down on the ground while Karlson and Tesla laid down across from them

"You guys okay?" Karlson asked them with his translation collar

"As close to it you can be." Henderson replied with his translation collar, "So I guess we're staying here until things calm down?"

"That's the plan." Karlson said with his translation collar

Henderson sighed

"Sorry about dragging them into this." Karlson said to him telepathically

"Its okay, nobody knew that the _Patton_ was going to be attacked like that, just as much as I expected I would be turned into this by stabbing that Roman Stormcutter." He replied telepathically, "So what if that Vigilante we keep hearing about shows up with her dragons and traps us in here?"

"Let's just hope that doesn't happen." Karlson said to him telepathically, "Now you get some rest, you need to regain your strength."

Henderson sighed and closed his eyes as Sheva laid down with her parents

"How is he?" Sheva asked Karlson telepathically

"He's fine Sheva, just exhausted as hell, all that time in that cell really did a number on him and I'm sure all that flying, running, and fighting didn't help." He replied telepathically

"Well at least he's out of there now and with them again." Sheva said telepathically

"So why aren't you laying down with him?" Tesla asked her telepathically, "You know you want too."

"I don't want to get between him and his family now." She replied telepathically as Erwin laid down with his brothers and sisters while their parents laid down next to Harrison

"Are you all okay?" Erwin Sr. asked Erwin, Manfred, Harrison, and Julie

"I think so dad." Erwin replied with his translation collar, "But holy crap, did you see the size of Drago's dragon?!"

"Yeah I did…we're defiantly going have to bring some bigger guns to take that thing down the next we meet them." Erwin Sr. said, "But enough talk, you four are exhausted after that long trip and need to get some rest."

Meanwhile outside the cavern, the Vigilante and her Stormcutter had landed outside a smaller cavern across the valley from the one that Task Force Therian was talking shelter in

"We'll wait until nightfall before we move in to get a closer look at these false dragons, I want to know more about them before we make a decision on how to deal with them." The Vigilante said to the Stormcutter, who snorted and then growled as two Blackwater flying machines flew over the valley

"Just as I thought, Blackwater is looking for them and I have no doubt that Drago is too." The Stormcutter said to his rider

"The Blackwater Commander seems to hold a grudge against these false dragons…I wonder why?" She replied

"Maybe they defeated him and his forces in an earlier confrontation?" The Stormcutter asked her

"Likely and I wonder why those…Vikings…are so friendly with them?" She replied, "The last time I encounter a Viking, they were killing dragons not riding them."

"Well something must have changed then." The Stormcutter said to her, "And it probably has to do something with that human riding the Night Fury with the fake tail."

"Let's get into the cavern and set up camp, we have a long night ahead of us." She replied


	24. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Vigilante - Part One

**Somewhere in the Scandinavian Mountains **

**Task Force Therian**

**March 24****th****, 2246 – 1324 Hours **

Henderson was woken up by Barnes' pet Terrible Terror, Terry, who was playfully tugging on one of the moustache-like appendages sticking out from the side of Henderson's face

"TERRY! Stop that right now!" Barnes shouted to the Terrible Terror, who immediately released the appendage and ran back to his master, who quickly apologized, "Sorry about that, Terry can be a bit too playful and curious at times."

Henderson grunted as he lifted up his head to look back at Evie and Ellie, who were both gone

"Where's my daughter and her grandmother?" Henderson asked Barnes

"They're outside with Stoick, he's showing Ellie how to fish." He replied

Henderson nodded

"Thank you." He said to Barnes before he headed toward the cavern entrance where he found Evie sitting with Sheva as they watched Stoick and Ellie fish from the shores of the nearby small lake while Fergus stood on top of a tall boulder as he his binoculars to scan the surrounding area for Blackwater patrols while Versky, a Russian Deadly Nadder was tapping into Blackwater's communication network using the intelligence gathering equipment that had been built into his armor for use in special operations

"There you are, was beginning to wonder if you were going to wake up!" Evie said to Henderson as he joined them

"How is she doing?" He asked them with his translation collar

"She's having a blast." Sheva replied as Henderson laid down next to her

"Well that's good, I never had the chance to take her out fishing, plus I doubted she would actually be interested in it." Henderson said with his translation collar

"That's what I thought too, but she really seems to be enjoying it." Evie replied as Henderson took notice of the large pile of fish that Stoick and Ellie had thrown together in an Isotxian helmet behind them as Barnes stepped out of the cavern

"Do you see anything from up there Captain?" Barnes asked Fergus with his translation collar

"We've got what looks like a settlement of some sort to our east with a railroad running through it which I'm guessing is probably connected to an ex-Gene Corp Facility or Blackwater base." He replied, "But other than that I've got nothing worth getting excited about."

"What about you Versky?" Barnes asked Versky

"The captain's right about that railway line, its serving a conversion camp a few miles north of here and later tonight there's going to be a train heading down that line from that camp carrying the latest batch of converted prisoners to another facility to be prepared for battle." He replied with his translation collar, "What are your orders?"

Barnes hesitated for a few seconds before replying

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but we're going have to let that train go because we can't afford to attract that kind of attention right now and if something goes wrong, we're not going have any support this time to get us out of it plus it could be a ploy to lure us out."

Versky nodded

"So we're just going to sit around as who knows how many innocent people are being forced to serve the people trying to kill us?" Henderson shouted at Barnes with his translation collar

Barnes sighed and replied with his translation collar while Stoick got up and joined them

"I'm not fond of the idea either, but we don't have a choice Henderson and as I said it could just be an elaborate trap plus I doubt we're going to be able hide that very many people!"

"I have to agree, but we also need to consider that those people we're letting falling through our fingers will be brainwashed to serve Drago Bludvist and General Walker or placed under mind control and then sent after us even if we manage to get back to Coalition lines." Stoick said to Barnes, "In other words it's a damned if we do and we're damned if we don't situation."

"Well at least we'll have support once we're back behind Coalition lines, but you're right letting them go will only mean more trouble for us and everybody else later." He replied with his translation collar, "But even if we do rescue them, how are we going to get them out because I doubt command, if we can even reach them right now, is going to risk losing more airships just to rescue our asses, no matter who we are."

"We could try finding that Vigilante woman and try to convince her to help us." Fergus said to him as he climbed down off the boulder

"And how are we going to find her?! She could anywhere in these damned mountains!" Barnes replied with his translation collar, "And she might even try to kill us if we find her too, not to mention she unintentionally helped Casca get away with my mom!"

"What about me?" Catherine asked as she and Reaper came out of out of the cavern

"What's going on out here?" Reaper asked Barnes and the others with his translation collar

"There's a train loaded with more post-human dragons being shipped out of a nearby conversion camp coming down a nearby line to another facility and we're debating whenever or not we should go rescue them and risk getting found by Drago and Walker." He replied with his translation collar, "And Fergus here suggested we try to find the Vigilante to see if she can help us."

"Isn't she the woman on that one dragon that stopped you guys from rescuing me from Casca as he flew off with me?" Catherine asked him

"Yes I believe that was her." Barnes replied with his translation collar, "Which makes me kind of hesitant to go out seek her help and she might even be trying to kill us too as far as we know!"

"How do you know? She might have just been after Casca and wasn't expecting you and Samantha to be chasing after him too." Catherine said to him with his translation collar, "I say it's worth the risk."

"If she was after Casca for some reason, she might not be too fond of us either because we're post-human dragons too and she'll probably think we're all alike because of whatever he did to her." He replied with his translation collar

Meanwhile the Vigilante and her Stormcutter were hiding behind the rocks on the top of the cavern and were listening to the conservation

"I'm really not liking this Barnes one." The Stormcutter said to his rider

"He has a right to be angry at us." She replied as a Monstrous Nightmare with two identical scars on its wings came out of the cavern alongside an oddly colored female

"What about Casca?" The Male Monstrous Nightmare asked in dragonese

"What happened to that Nightmare's wings, I've never seen scars like that before?!" The Vigilante said to her Stormcutter in dragonese as the false male Stormcutter named "Henderson" helped the male Monstrous Nightmare catch up on the conservation

"I never have either." He replied telepathically, "And why is the female colored like a Deadly Nadder?"

"Well the Vigilante has something against Casca, then I think it may be worth trying to get her help." The Monstrous Nightmare said to Barnes, who snorted

"Calvin we all know what Casca did to you back on Berk, but you can't let your personal vendetta against him blind you on our mission here, which is to survive until we can get out of here!" Barnes replied with his talking collar

"If you guys aren't going to go help those people on that train, then me and my boys will!" The Soldier said to the false dragons

"And then how are you going to get out of there?" Barnes asked him with his talking collar

"We'll work something out." He replied as he headed back into the cavern

Barnes grunted

"Fine…we'll go rob a fucking train if it means everybody's happy." He said with his talking collar

"Now we're talking!" The Soldier shouted from the cavern

"Stoick, do you know any people living out here?" Barnes asked Stoick with his talking collar while the Vigilante cringed at the sound of his name

"I can't say I do." He replied, "But I think me and Gobber will be able to fit in just fine."

"Good because we need somebody to go down there to that settlement and find a place where we can ambush that train, preferably a bridge or narrow ravine." Barnes said to him with his talking collar

Stoick nodded as Barnes looked at Henderson and Sheva

"You two stay here and make sure nothing happens to the other prisoners we freed from the facility, if we're not back before 0200 hours, get the hell out of here, fly to the Atlantic Coast, and fly south until you are sure you have entered friendly territory. " Barnes said to them with his talking collar

"But what if you need help?" Henderson replied with his talking collar

"Don't worry about us, worry about your family." Barnes said to him with his talking collar

Henderson nodded

"Understood sir." He said with his talking collar

"We and Echo Squad are going to stay here as well, they might they need the additional firepower." Calvin said to Barnes while the female Monstrous Nightmare standing next to him nodded

Barnes nodded

"I prefer that you stay here anyway, because unlike the rest of us, you two have a chance at living regular lives with those transformation devices." He said to him and the female Monstrous Nightmare

"Transformation devices?" The Vigilante asked herself as Stoick went into the cavern to get Gobber

"Everybody get back into the cavern, we have some planning to do." Barnes shouted with his talking collar to the other false dragons and humans outside the cavern before he went back into the cavern and was followed by Henderson, Sheva, Calvin, the female Monstrous Nightmare, and the others who were outside the cavern

"Cloudjumper go back to the sanctuary, get reinforcements, tell the king about what we've found, and then meet me back here before nightfall." The Vigilante said to her Stormcutter

"What about you?" He asked her

"I'm staying here to keep an eye on them." She replied

The Stormcutter nodded and took off while the Vigilante watched the little human girl, Ellie and her grandmother gathered the fish that she and Stoick had caught

"You need to tell Stoick thank you." The Grandmother said to Ellie

"I know!" She replied, "So what are we going do about dad?"

"I don't know sweetie, I don't know." Her Grandmother said to her before she continued, "But he needs our help more than ever now and we need to be there for him."

Ellie nodded as she picked up the last of the fish and went back inside the cavern while her grandmother watched her and sighed as Henderson came back out

"Is something wrong Evie?" Henderson asked her with his talking collar

"I don't know how you put up with all this Jayden." She replied, "Your scumbag of an uncle, us, and you being turned into a dragon, how do you do it?"

Henderson snorted

"I just suck it up and get on with life." He said to her with his talking collar, "But right now my biggest concern is getting you and Ellie back home safely from all this."

"And when were you planning on telling us about the thing you have going with Sheva?" She asked him

"She told you?!" He replied with his talking collar

"No, it's pretty obvious that you two have something going on between you because the way she's always checking on us and trying to lay down with you." Evie said to him as Henderson hung his head

"Sheva's the first person I've met in who knows how long that I actually felt something for…besides you and Ellie of course." He replied with his talking collar

"I won't deny it, Sheva's perfect for you, she's a caring and gentle girl who knows when it's time for her to kick ass." Evie said to him, "So do you two plan on having a closer relationship?"

"Errrrr…that's none of your concern for right now." He replied with his talking collar, "But anyway let's get inside before somebody sees us."

Evie nodded and followed Henderson into the cavern

"Is that Stormcutter really that girl's father?" The Vigilante asked herself, "There's more to these false dragons than I thought."

Meanwhile back inside the cavern, Calvin and Emily had switched back to their human forms and were getting dressed in their CUUs and powered armor

"So much for staying low." Emily said to Calvin, "I actually kind of enjoyed the calm."

"I did too." He replied as he placed his blouse on and started to button it up while Emily tied her hair into a ponytail so it would fit inside her helmet, "Maybe whenever we get back to Coalition lines, they'll send us home to rest for a while?"

"You mean Cape Girardeau?" Emily asked him

"Yeah, it's been almost a year since we left Cape Girardeau." He replied

"You guys haven't been back to Cape at all?" Emily asked him

"Nope, the others stayed on Berk while I was at Area 51 with my parents getting surgery, physical therapy, and this transformation device." He replied as he looked at his transformation device, which was on the ground with the rest of his powered armor

"Damn." Emily said as she buttoned up her blouse as Calvin started to place his armor on as Sheva came to check on them

"Thank god you two are dressed, I was just wondering what you were doing." Sheva said to them with her translation collar as Calvin placed his transformation device on his arm

"We're just getting dressed." Emily replied, "So how are things going with Henderson?"

"Fine." Sheva said with her translation collar, "I heard you guys talking about Cape Girardeau, I really miss it too."

"Yeah, it's been so long I can barely remember what it looks like." Calvin replied, "I guess it's only natural for us to miss it since we lived there for most of our lives, not really giving a damn what happened outside the perimeter fence surrounding the airbase as long as it didn't affect us or the others."

"I really wish it was still that way." Emily said to him, "But hey at least we still have each other!"

"Yeah, we do." Calvin replied as he finished putting his armor on, "But I just want to get this war over with so everything can go back to somewhat normal."

"What's even normal after all this?" Emily asked him

"Normal to me means we don't have somebody trying to kill us every second of every day." He replied

"I guess I can agree to that." Sheva said with her translation collar, "So what do you know about the Vigilante anyway?"

"Besides that she's been raining terror on Blackwater's operations in this area, nothing." Calvin replied

Later that evening, Stoick and Gobber had returned to the cavern to help Barnes, Karlson, and Fergus plan the ambush on the train bringing with them a map of the area while everybody in the cavern were preparing for the ambush except for Henderson, Sheva, Calvin, Emily, and the others who were staying behind

"Barnes, we got something for you." Stoick said as he showed Barnes the map

"Wow nice work, how did you get it?" He asked Stoick with his translation collar

"We bought it." Gobber replied

"With what?" Reaper asked them with his translation collar

"What? You think we didn't bring some money with us for when we needed to buy something?" Stoick asked him

"Okay…okay." He replied with his translation collar

"So does that map have place where they could ambush the train at?" Barnes asked Stoick, who nodded as he sat down and rolled out the map on the floor of the cavern

"According to this map the railway goes through an area of thick forest a few miles south of the village before it crosses a bridge over a river, we could set up there or at the bridge and ambush the train as it goes through." He replied

"What do the locals know about the train itself?" Fergus asked him

"They say that the trains that usually travel through that line carry at least sixty Blackwater troopers along with an armored gun car to protect it against dragon attacks." He replied

"We should also consider the possibility that Blackwater has bolstered their security since they likely know we're in the area, so chances are that there's going to be a few more Blackwater troopers on that train along with possibly a second gun car." Reaper said with his translation collar, "We might have to derail the train before we attack it, so the gun cars aren't a problem."

"Then we'll also risk killing the people who we're trying to rescue." Barnes replied with his translation collar

"Then what do you suggest we do then?" Reaper asked him with his translation collar

"I suggest we use Deadly Nadders to burn through the couplings connecting the gun car to the rest of the train and then using a Monstrous Nightmare or two to knock it over." Fergus replied

"That can work." Reaper said with his translation collar, "And then what happens after we get all those people off the train, we take them here? This place barely holds all of us."

"We'll figure out something." Barnes replied with his translation collar, "We leave immediately."

Stoick nodded and rolled up the map

"Okay lads and lasses, get your gear together and mount up, we're flying out!" Fergus shouted to his men as Erwin tried to stand up, but he was stopped by Margaret

"You should stay here with your parents, they might need you and your brothers and sister if something happens while we're gone." She said to him

"Are you sure?" Erwin asked her telepathically

"Yes I'm sure." She replied telepathically

Erwin nodded and laid back down as Margaret joined her parents

"What was that about?" Reaper asked Margaret

"Nothing, just told him to stay with his parents." She replied before they took off into the evening sky with the other post-human dragons going on the attack

"So now what?" Jasmine asked Henderson

"We stay here and hope they come back." He replied

Meanwhile outside the cavern, the Vigilante was watching Barnes lead the other armored false dragons, the dragon riders, and their human supporters away from the cavern and disappear into the darkening sky as Cloudjumper returned with more dragons from the sanctuary

"Valka, the Alpha told me that he wants us to bring some of these false dragons to him, unharmed if possible." Cloudjumper said to the Vigilante

"Why?" She asked him

"He wants to see them for himself and make his own decision about them." Cloudjumper replied, "So when are going in?"

"Now, but we need to make this quick because I don't want the false dragons and the humans with them to contact the others." The Vigilante said to him

Cloudjumper nodded

"Let's go then." He said

Back in the cavern, Henderson was laying down with Sheva as they watched Evie and Ellie play with Terry

"So what happened to Ellie's mom?" Sheva asked Henderson

"She passed away, I didn't even know Ellie existed until after that when she and Evie appeared on my doorstep a few days later." He replied

"Must have been hard learning that you were father to a kid that you didn't even knew existed." Sheva said to him, "Did her mother even try to contact you?"

"Nope, she was a radical feminist and she probably believed that Ellie would be better off without me." He replied

"How did you ever-?" Sheva asked him

"We went to the same party one night in high school, got drunk, and woke up naked in the same bed the next morning. She never spoke to me again after that." He replied, "She and a few of her friends got expelled from school about a week later for doing a topless demonstration during a school assembly and that was the last time I ever saw her."

"How did she die?" Sheva asked him

"She got shot by a mugger on her way back from work." He replied

"Does Ellie miss her?" Sheva asked

"I hate to say it, but not really from what I've seen, it's probably because Evie is the one who raised her for the most part." Henderson replied, "Just wished I could've been there from the start though."

Before Sheva could say anything in response, there was a loud roar outside the cavern before a swarm of wild dragons led by a masked woman wielding a staff and shield riding a Stormcutter stormed into the cavern through the entrance, quickly overwhelming Calvin, Emily, and Echo Squad before they had a chance to pick up their weapons and knocking them unconscious while Henderson, Sheva, Evie, Ellie, Ward, Aberly, Tullus, the Schnitters, and Bravo Squad were cut off from the other post-human dragons who quickly fled into the other chamber allowing the Woman and her dragons to turn their full attention to Henderson, Sheva, and the others as they were forced to retreat into a corner while Erwin Senior, Maria, Evie, Samuel, and Ellie hid behind them as the woman and her dragons closed in on them

"We're trapped!" Ward screamed

"HOLD YOUR GROUND!" Henderson shouted before the Masked Woman shot him with a blow dart tipped with Speed Stinger venom which immediately paralyzed Henderson, freezing him into a statue-like state

"HENDERSON!" Sheva screamed as she and the other trapped post-human dragons were distracted by Henderson's paralyzed state long enough for the Vigilante's dragons to rush them, wrestle them down to the ground, and knock them unconscious as Erwin Senior, Maria, Samuel, and Evie were captured by other dragons leaving only Ellie, who grabbed a hold of her paralyzed father's leg and sobbed as the Vigilante motioned for her dragons to leave Ellie alone as she approached her and Henderson

"Stay away from my daughter you bitch!" Henderson shouted to the Vigilante through his translation collar

"Dad?!" Ellie screamed

"I'm alright sweetie, just can't move right now!" Henderson replied with his translation collar, "Just hold onto my leg and don't let go no matter what happens!"

"Mr. Henderson I do not wish to harm you, your family, or your friends!" The Vigilante said to Henderson

"Then why did you paralyze him?!" Evie shouted to her

"Because I had no other choice, if I hadn't done it we would have been forced to use violence to subdue all of you!" She replied

"Bullshit you could've just came in here without your dragons and said hello or something!" Henderson shouted to her with his translation collar, "Now what the hell did you do to me?!"

"That dart I shot you with was tipped with venom that I extracted myself from a Speed Stinger, which uses it to paralyze its prey." The Vigilante said to him, "And as you can see, it works quite effectively, but don't worry it'll wear off after a few hours, which is all the time we need to get all of you out of here before the rest of your group returns from their mission!"

"You know they'll come looking for us!" Samuel shouted to her

"And that's kind of what I'm counting on." The Vigilante replied

"Do you think we're part of Casca's little club or something?!" Henderson shouted at her with his translation collar, "Because we're as far as away from that as you can get!"

"I know that because two of those two Night Furies of yours' chasing after him before they disappeared into thin air!" The Vigilante replied as she approached Henderson's paralyzed face, "But I still have very little reason to trust you after you false dragons have done to the real things!"

"What the hell do you mean?! The only dragons I've done anything to be the ones that tried to kill me back in the Barbaric Archipelago, most of which were Casca's men or had Outcasts riding them, who are the main reason I even got dragged into all this!" Henderson replied with his translation collar

"Outcasts?! Alvin?! Why was he trying to kill you?!" The Vigilante asked him as she stepped back from Henderson, "And why were you in the Barbaric Archipelago?"

"We're allies with the Hairy Hooligan Tribe, the Outcasts attacked them and we got called in to help defend Berk, but then everything went to shit when the Romans and Blackwater showed up and invaded the damn Archipelago." Henderson replied with his translation collar, "And that's where I got turned into this thing after I killed a Roman dragon and had its blood seep into a wound I had on my arm!"

"Why would Stoick the Vast ally with your people?!" The Vigilante asked him

"Because we had a common enemy." Henderson replied with his translation collar, "Hell I even saved his live from the Romie dragon I killed! Who the hell are you?!"

"That is of none of your concern Mr. Henderson." The Vigilante said to him as he pointed her staff at his face

"LEAVE MY DADDY ALONE!" Ellie screamed

The Vigilante lowered her staff

"Please don't hurt her, she's only just a child!" Henderson said to the Vigilante telepathically as she turned her attention to his daughter, who was still holding onto his leg as the Vigilante's Stormcutter sniffed her while she cried

"Don't worry I'm not going to hurt her." She replied as she kneeled down and place her staff down next to her, "Don't worry little one, Cloudjumper isn't going to hurt you, he's just curious, that's all."

Henderson mentally sighed

"Her name is Ellie." He said to the Vigilante telepathically as Ellie pulled her face away from Henderson's leg and looked into the yellow eyes of the Vigilante's Stormcutter, who hummed as Ellie saw her reflection in his pupils

"I think he likes you, but mind the claws though, they're a bit sharp." The Vigilante said to Ellie as Cloudjumper touched the side of Ellie's face with one of his wing claws

"What's going on back there?" Henderson asked with his translation collar as Ellie reached out with one of her hands and touched Cloudjumper's nose and smiled as Cloudjumper hummed happily

"He's cute." Ellie said

"Okay…okay I get your point, you're not here to hurt us, so can you please not bribing my daughter with your dragon?" Henderson asked the Vigilante, who actually laughed

"I'm not bribing your daughter Mr. Henderson, I just wanted to show her that dragons aren't creatures to be feared." She replied, "Do you fear dragons?"

"No, I've seen what can happen when dragons and people work together for both bad and good, so yes I'm not afraid of them in fact I owe my life to a few Hairy Hooligans that ride them." Henderson said to her with his translation collar

"We'll continue this discussion later." The Vigilante said hesitantly as Cloudjumper lifted up his head with Ellie still clinging to him, "Take their armor and collars off, except for this one's."

The Vigilante's dragons began to tear off Sheva's, Erwin's, Julie's, Manfred's, and Harrison's armor and translation collars piece by piece while the Vigilante walked over to the unconscious Calvin who was pinned beneath the foot of a Snagglefang and quickly noticed his transformation device that was latched onto his arm which she lifted up to get a closer look at the controls that were on it

"I wonder…" The Vigilante said as she carefully took the transformation device off Calvin's arm along with the armor covering it before lifting up his sleeve, revealing the scar that went up on it while Cloudjumper and Ellie watched over her shoulder

"Ellie who is this?" The Vigilante asked Ellie

"That's Calvin, he and Emily over there can transform into dragons using those wristbands of theirs!" Ellie replied

"Is he the Monstrous Nightmare with the scars on his wings?" The Vigilante asked Ellie as she looked at the scar on Calvin's arm

"Yeah that's him." Ellie replied, "That's also the body he was born in."

"He was born a dragon?!" The Vigilante asked Ellie, who nodded

"So was Emily, but she was born one of the smaller pretty dragons." Ellie replied

"A Deadly Nadder?!" The Vigilante asked her

Ellie nodded

"God Henderson your daughter is such a good secret keeper!" Samuel shouted to Henderson sarcastically

"Secret keeping doesn't run strong in the Henderson family." Henderson replied telepathically

"Are they the only ones like this?" The Vigilante asked Ellie, who shook her head

"They can do it too!" Ellie replied as she pointed to Erwin and Julie, "And so can Margaret, but she's with the others!"

The Vigilante looked down at Calvin

"We're taking these humans with us too!" The Vigilante shouted to her dragons as she looked at the transformation device in her hands before looking at Calvin again and then at Emily and her transformation device, "I have so many questions for both of you…"

The Vigilante climbed onto Cloudjumper as her dragons lifted up Henderson, Erwin, Julie, Ward, Aberly, Manfred, Harrison, Tullus, Calvin, Emily, Maria, Samuel, Evie, Erwin Sr., Bravo Squad, and Echo Squad before taking off with the Vigilante and Cloudjumper taking off last

"So what do we do about the others?" Cloudjumper asked his rider

"I've got no doubt that they have tracking devices implanted somewhere in each of our prisoners, so they will no doubly coming looking for them once they realize we took them and we'll be waiting for them." The Vigilante replied

"And what happens then? We purge them?" Cloudjumper asked her

"I don't know, it depends what we learn from these ones and what the King thinks of them." The Vigilante replied

Cloudjumper nodded

"And what about the Vikings and the dragon riders that are with them?" Cloudjumper asked her

"As I said, I don't know." The Vigilante replied

Meanwhile the post-human dragons and the Isotxians were cloaked or concealed in foxholes as they watched the armored Blackwater train carrying the post-human dragons from the conversion camp come down the railway, which they had blocked with a few trees they had knocked down forcing it to come to a stop

"Wait for my mark!" Barnes said quietly over his translation collar's radio as the train's engineer and two Blackwater troopers jumped out of the locomotive and ran to investigate the fallen trees on the railroad

"Look what those fucking kids did now!" The Engineer shouted as Fergus, who had armed himself a M14 with a telescopic sight took aim at one of the Blackwater troopers behind him as the Engineer continued, "Go get the fucking chainsaws, we're going have to cut through these trees before we move them out of the way!"

"Now!" Barnes roared as two Isotxian soldiers shot illumination flares into the sky over the train as the Isotxian soldiers opened fire with machine guns while Fergus sniped both of the Blackwater Troopers while the Train Engineer fled into the ditch on the opposite side of the tracks as Korensky and Katie deactivated their cloaking devices near the train's gun car and began using their magnesium fire to melt down the couplings as Tesla threw herself at the gun car to knock over onto its side while the Blackwater troopers inside it screamed

"Good work you guys!" Barnes shouted over the radio of his translation collar to Korensky, Katie, and Tesla, "Now hurry up and get the prisoners out of those cars!"

"Roger that!" Korensky replied with his translation collars radio as he and Katie were joined by several Isotxian soldiers trooper as they ran to first train car carrying post-human dragons before one of the Isotxians blasted away the lock on its door with his shotgun so Korensky could rip it off its hinges so the other Isotxians could get inside and start freeing the post-human dragons chained up inside it while another group of Isotxian soldiers did the same for the next boxcar

"They're freeing the prisoners!" A Blackwater Officer shouted over the sounds of the gunfire, dragon roars, and explosions before Fergus took him out with a shot to the head while Stoick and Gobber broke into another dragon car with the help of two other Vikings before they jumped in to free the post-humans inside it, who panicked at the sight of the Vikings

"We're not here to hurt you!" Stoick shouted as he began to free one of them

"Look at how many of them there are!" One of the Other Vikings shouted, "How in Odin's name do the Americans think they're going to take care of them once all this is over?!"

"Let's not worry about that now!" Stoick shouted as he removed the muzzle from the dragon he was freeing which gasped for air as Stoick removed the last of its chains before he shouted to it, "You're free now! Go!"

The post-human dragon nodded and ran out of the car as Stoick moved to the next post-human dragon

"Don't worry it's almost over!" Stoick shouted to the dragon, who nodded as Stoick removed her muzzle allowing her to breathe freely as Stoick began to remove her chains

"Who are you people?! Why are you helping us?!" The Dragon asked Stoick telepathically

"We're the good guys!" Stoick replied

"They have children in one of the other cars, I don't know which though!" The Dragon said to Stoick telepathically

"Don't worry, we'll to get to them soon enough!" Stoick replied as the gunfire suddenly stopped

"AREA SECURED!" An Isotxian Officer shouted

"Good! Now hurry up and free the rest of the prisoners so we can get out of here!" Barnes shouted with his translation collar's radio

"Are you the Coalition we've heard about?!" The Dragon asked Stoick as he broke the last of its chains

"Yes." Stoick replied, "Now get out of here, there are others like you out there who know what to do next!"

The dragon nodded before it ran out of the car as Stoick and Gobber moved onto the next dragon

"Hey! This car has a bunch of baby dragons in it!" An Isotxian Soldier shouted outside, "How the hell are we going to save all them?"

"We can use one of the box cars!" Karlson shouted with his translation collar

"What?!" The Isotxian Soldier shouted

"Hey Barnes, I'm having trouble reaching Calvin and Emily!" Karlson shouted to Barnes with his translation collar

"Have you tried reaching Erwin or Sheva?" Barnes asked him with his translation collar

"Yeah and I can't reach them either, I think something is going on!" Karlson replied

"Go check it out, we'll finish up here!" Barnes shouted to him with his translation collar

SO when do we strike back?" The Dragon that Stoick and Gobber were freeing asked Stoick telepathically

"Hopefully soon." Stoick replied

A few seconds later, Karlson landed outside the cavern

"Calvin? Emily? Sheva?" Karlson shouted as he came into the cavern which appeared to be completely deserted when he saw the armor and translation collars of Sheva, Erwin, Julie, Manfred, and Harrison scattered about in a corner all apparently torn off with force

"Oh no...not again!" Karlson shouted

"Are they gone?" A Voice shouted from another chamber of the cavern as a Slavic Hobblegrunt stuck his head out

"Who's gone?! What happened?! Where's my kids and the others?!" Karlson shouted to the Hobblegrunt

"A masked woman and her dragons came rushing in here after you all left and took all them!" The Hobblegrunt replied as he and the other post-human dragons came out of the chamber, "I think she was that Vigilante we keep talking about!"

"Why are all of you still here?" Karlson asked him

The Hobblegrunt made a shrug-like motion with his wings as Karlson trembled in rage as he contacted Barnes with his translation collar's radio

"Barnes, it's Karlson, the Vigilante has taken Calvin and the others!" Karlson shouted to Barnes with his translation collar

"What?!" Barnes replied, "When did this happen?"

"Apparently sometime after we left." Karlson said to him with his translation, "I'm going after them!"

"Karlson no! Wait for us first and we'll go after them together, it'll be suicide going by yourself!" Barnes replied, "And you're not going to help them by getting yourself killed or captured!"

Karlson growled

"Roger that." Karlson said hesitantly before turning his attention to the Hobblegrunt and the other post-human dragons and roared at them, "Why didn't you do anything to help them?!"

"We don't know how to fight, not all of us are soldiers!" The Hobblegrunt said to him, "If we did know how to fight, we would have helped!"

Karlson sighed and broke down crying


	25. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Three: The Vigilante – Part Two

**Location Unknown **

**March 25****th****, 2246 – 0403 Hours **

Calvin regained consciousness in his Monstrous Nightmare form in a large dark chamber with Emily, who was in her Deadly Nadder form, lying on her side next to him with no sign of Henderson, Sheva, or the others nor of the Vigilante and her dragons

"Emily!" Calvin shouted as he stood up and began to nudge Emily, who groaned before she lifted up her head

"Cal-Calvin?" Emily asked Calvin wearily before she looked around, "Where are we?"

"I have no idea." Calvin replied, "Can you stand up?"

"I think so." Emily said to Calvin as he helped her up onto her feet, "How are we in our dragon forms and where are the others?!"

"I don't know, all I remember is being knocked out cold by a dragon smacking me with its head." Calvin said to her

"That's all I remember too." Emily replied, "Do you see a way out of here?"

Calvin looked around, but saw no visible entrance or exit and shook his head

"If there is one, I'm not seeing it." Calvin said to her, "We need to find the others though."

"Calvin we don't even know where we are! How are we supposed to find the others?!" Emily asked him

"Well you're the tracker class dragon, can you pick up on any familiar scents in here?" Calvin asked her

"I can try, but I'm not promising anything." Emily replied before she started to sniff the air, "Nope, I don't have anything."

Calvin sighed and looked around and that was he saw the outlines of numerous dragons in the shadows around him and Emily, who was also seeing them

"Uhhh Calvin…I don't think we're not welcomed here." Emily said to Calvin as the dragons closed in on them from all sides

"Just stay calm and don't look down." Calvin said to Emily telepathically

"Stay calm?! Calvin, we're surrounded by a bunch of dragons, a bunch of dragons that might think we're their dinner or something!" Emily said to Calvin telepathically

"I really doubt they're interested in eating us." Calvin replied telepathically before he spotted the Vigilante among the dragons shielding her face with her shield as she cautiously approached him and Emily

"What do you want from us?!" Calvin shouted to the Vigilante telepathically, but got no response from her as she and her dragons stopped only a few short feet away from Calvin and Emily

"Uhhh Calvin ignite your fire jacket or do _something_ before we get to torn shreds!" Emily shouted to Calvin, who ignited his fire jacket, illuminating the Vigilante and her dragons, who didn't even back away an inch

"I'll ask one more time! What do you want from us?! And where did you take our friends?!" Calvin shouted to the Vigilante telepathically

"You're friends are safe Mr. Calvin." The Vigilante replied, "And there's no need for telepathy, I can understand dragonese just as much as you do."

"How do you know my name?!" Calvin shouted to her

"Ellie told me." The Vigilante replied, "I brought you here because I wanted to ask you and your mate a few questions."

"Why should we answer any of your questions after you assaulted us and our friends?!" Calvin asked her, the flames of his fire jacket intensifying with his anger

"Uhhh Calvin I think you're not helping us any by getting angry!" Emily shouted to Calvin

"Your mate is right, getting angry will not help relieve your situation." The Vigilante said to Calvin, "And we do not intend to harm you unless you intend to harm us."

"I consider knocking us out a form of harming us lady!" Calvin replied

"I knocked you out because it was the only we were going to be able to safely transport you here without you harming me, my dragons, or yourselves." The Vigilante said to Calvin, "Nor did I want you contacting the others."

"You know they're going to be looking for us!" Calvin replied

"Yes I know and I want them too, wish is why I want you to answer my questions so I can know if you're my enemies or my friends!" The Vigilante said to Calvin, "So for your own sake and the sake of your friends and comrades, you need to calm down."

"Calvin if she wanted to kill us she would've done it by now." Emily said to Calvin telepathically, "And you know that just as much as I do."

Calvin sighed as the flames of his fire jacket began to calm down, but remained lit as the Vigilante lowered her shield and stood up straight

"Good, now who do you work for?" The Vigilante asked Calvin

"I am Sergeant Calvin Karlson of American's People Military Special Forces 1st Stormtrooper Legion which is now attached to Task Force Therian, a special task force created by the Coalition Security Council to disrupt and destroy Gene Corp's and Blackwater's operations in Europe which includes their conversion operations by any and all means necessary." Calvin replied, "

"Conversion?" The Vigilante asked Calvin, "You mean them turning humans into dragons?"

Calvin nodded

"Yes, so you are aware of their conversion camps?" Calvin asked the Vigilante

"They're spread out all over the mountains of Scandinavia and across Europe, it's hard not to be aware of them and what goes inside their walls." The Vigilante replied, "And I have made it my personal goal to destroy them along with any false dragons that oppose me."

"You mean Casca and his men?" Calvin asked her

The Vigilante nodded

"It's because of them I was forced to get involved in this war." The Vigilante said to Calvin, "Casca and his men are responsible for the destruction of most of the major dragon nests in Scandinavia and the Baltic along with Blackwater's hunter-killers and I have also come to understand that Casca is the one who gave you those scars."

Calvin snarled

"Believe it or not most of Casca's quote on quote 'men' are actually nothing more than meat puppets that are being controlled by special devices we know as MCDs or mind control devices." Calvin said to the Vigilante, "So most of them don't have any control of their actions."

"You mean…they're slaves?" The Vigilante asked Calvin

"Yes, basically." Calvin replied, "I guess you've killed them too?"

"I had no idea…" The Vigilante said to Calvin

"It's a hard concept to understand, but it's true." Calvin replied, "Ask General Barnes or any or the other older _post-human_ dragons from the First War and they can tell you about it because they've personally experienced what it's like to be under the influence of one of those."

"First War?" The Vigilante asked Calvin

"This isn't the first time our people have come to blows with Gene Corp, they tried to overthrow our government a few years ago but our parents and the other post-human dragons stopped them." Calvin replied, "But that was before we were born."

"How did the Vikings come into all of this?" The Vigilante asked Calvin

"Our government first made an alliance with the Hairy Hooligans during the early stages of the First War because we had a common enemy, but after the war escalated when Blackwater attacked our capital, we made alliances with the other Viking tribes with the exception of the Outcasts, who later attacked the Hairy Hooligans after the war with their own dragon riders which forced our deployment to Berk shortly before Blackwater and Rome launched a full-scale invasion of the Barbaric Archipelago." Calvin replied

"How did the Vikings learn how to ride dragons?" The Vigilante asked Calvin

"Well it all started with the Hairy Hooligans about a year or so before the First War started when the son of their chieftain, Hiccup Haddock befriended a Night Fury, who is now named Toothless and they then defeated some evil queen dragon of some sort that was controlling the other dragons that attacked Berk which allowed the Hairy Hooligans and them to make peace and live in almost completely harmony on Berk, which is what attracted Gene Corp and Blackwater to it." Calvin replied

"Hiccup?" The Vigilante said in a completely different

"You know him?" Calvin asked The Vigilante

"A long time ago…but that's a different subject." The Vigilante replied, "So I'm guessing Hiccup, Toothless, and the other dragon riders taught your parents how to raise you?"

"Not directly, they taught Barnes and his wife first who then taught our parents." Calvin said to the Vigilante, "So basically we owe our existence to them and they also taught Barnes and her dad how to fly, eat, and fight as dragons after they were turned, they've been close friends ever since."

"So are the Barnes' and your parents the only fals- I mean post-human dragons to reproduce?" The Vigilante asked Calvin

"Yeah…at least willingly at least." Calvin replied, "But I'm sure that's going to change in the near future because one of the Barnes' kids got married to the guy who used to be our chief aircraft mechanic who then willingly turned himself into a Night Fury and then you have me and-"

"You're telling her a bit too much now Calvin." Emily said to Calvin uneasily

"Good point." Calvin replied

"How did you come into possession of your transformation devices and why are you two and Erwin and his sister the only ones in possession of them?" The Vigilante asked Calvin

"I was the first one to receive one because scientists discovered that I didn't the little machines, nanites that Gene Corp used to turn our parents into dragons in my blood after Casca broke my wings." Calvin replied, "They originally kept turning me into a human as a back-up plan if the reconstruction surgery on my wings didn't succeed, which they did and they told me about it afterwards so I came up with the idea and the scientists liked it and so they went to work on it and mullah, I got it and she got hers after I freed her and my sister, Sheva from that prison in an undercover mission."

"Reconstruction Surgery?" The Vigilante asked Calvin

"Ask Doctor Ward, she's the one who developed it, she's now one of the Skrills that you kidnapped." Calvin replied

Meanwhile Sheva regained consciousness laying in front of Henderson, who body was slowly recovering from the effects of the speed stinger venom

"Oh look who's finally awake!" Henderson said to Sheva

"Jayden! You can talk again!" Sheva replied

"Yeah I've been able to for the past hour or so and by the way, we're being watched." Henderson said to her

Sheva turned around and saw the large crowd of wild dragons watching them wearingly

"OH MY GOD!" Sheva said as she looked around and saw Ward, Aberly, Tullus, Erwin, Manfred, Harrison, Julie, and Bravo Squad still laying on the ground unconscious near a cliff that overlooked a large lake of steaming water inside what appeared to be a mountain of ice populated by hundreds of various dragon species that were either flying around, resting, or playing before she looked back at Henderson, "Where are we?"

"I have no idea, the Vigilante brought us here, called it her sanctuary." Henderson said to Sheva

"Can you move?" Sheva asked Henderson

"Barely, but I'm getting there." Henderson replied, "Can you scratch my nose?"

"Really?! We're surrounded by a bunch of wild fucking-HOLY SHIT!" Sheva screamed when she saw the snowy white blue-eyed Bewilderbeast sitting behind Henderson staring at them

"What?" Henderson asked her

"Jayden…there is a Bewilderbeast sitting _right_ behind you staring at us." Sheva replied telepathically

Henderson's eyes widened and his pupils narrowed as he felt the Bewilderbeast's breath pass by him

"Oh god you're not kidding!" Henderson said to Sheva telepathically, "I am so lucky my neck is stiff as heck right now so I can't look back at it!"

"There is no need to be alarmed Jayden Henderson and Sheva Karlson, I nor my companions wish to harm you unlike my unfortunate counterpart that is being controlled by Drago Bludvist who uses him to control his dragons." The Bewilderbeast said to both Henderson and Sheva telepathically

"Where's my brother and his girlfriend?" Sheva asked the Bewilderbeast telepathically, "And what about our human friends?"

"Valka has your brother and his female Deadly Nadder companion in another part of the sanctuary, she had a few questions she wanted to ask them personally." The Bewilderbeast replied

"Valka? You mean the Vigilante?" Henderson asked the Bewilderbeast telepathically

"Yes the Stormcutter she calls Cloudjumper brought her here long ago during an expedition he made to the Barbaric Archipelago where he got pulled into a dragon raid against a Viking Village." The Bewilderbeast replied, "She's been with us ever since, saving our kind that are unfortunate to fall into the traps set by the dragon trappers employed by Drago Bludvist and Gene Corp, the latter of which I believe is no more if what I've heard from your minds are true."

"Yeah my brother had a hand in that." Sheva said to The Bewilderbeast telepathically, "Where are our human friends?"

"The humans you were with are being watched by Cloudjumper and the other dragons that Valka had with her when she captured you." The Bewilderbeast replied, "But I can ensure sure you that no intentional harm has come to them."

"Wait so you can read our minds?" Henderson asked The Bewilderbeast

"Yes." The Bewilderbeast replied, "Although it's more difficult to read yours' than it is other dragons due to the differences between our minds and it's not hard to tell that you two both have feelings for each other."

Both Henderson and Sheva laughed uneasily

"So do you know how long it takes for this speed stinger venom stuff to wear off?" Henderson asked the Bewilderbeast

"Usually a few hours, but it shouldn't be that much longer before your body finally recovers from its effects." The Bewilderbeast replied

"So what happens to us now?" Sheva asked him

"You will stay here until your other companions arrive because we will need your aid to calm them to avoid an unwanted confrontation." The Bewilderbeast replied as Ward began to regain consciousness

"Owwww my head…" Ward said as she lifted up her head off the ground and saw the Bewilderbeast behind Henderson and Sheva

Uhhh guys there is another one of those-. " Ward said to Henderson and Sheva

"We know…we've been talking to him for the past few seconds now." Henderson replied, "He can also read our minds by the way."

"Doctor Kelly Ward, out of all your companions, your expertise will be the most welcomed." The Bewilderbeast said to Ward as she lifted herself off the ground and looked around

"Holy cow!" Ward replied, "What is this place?!"

"I believe Valka, the one who brought you here, calls it her dragon sanctuary, but for us its home." The Bewilderbeast said to her, "I understand that during your days as a human you treated wounded and sick dragons for a living, yes?"

Ward nodded

"I worked at the animal clinic for the Los Angeles Zoo taking care of large zoo animals before the First Gene Corp War when I was drafted into the military to help take care of the dragons that the Hairy Hooligans brought with them and I've been hooked on it ever since." Ward said to the Bewilderbeast, "I got so good at it that the government hired me to take care of the post-human dragons after the war ended and I eventually got promoted to be the leading medical officer of the 502nd the year before we were deployed to Berk to fight the Outcasts and then the Romans and Blackwater after they invaded where I was unfortunately captured and turned into this."

"You might not able to practice your profession to the same level as you could when you were human, but your knowledge will still be greatly appreciated by those here who have been injured by dragon traps or Blackwater's ruthless campaigns to exterminate the dragon nests of Scandinavia." The Bewilderbeast replied

"How bad are these injuries?" Ward asked the Bewilderbeast as Calvin and Emily landed behind them with Valka riding on the former's neck

"Thank you Calvin." Valka said to Calvin as she jumped off his neck

"You're welcome." Calvin replied before he looked up at the Bewilderbeast

"Calvin!" Sheva shouted as she ran to her brother and nuzzled him

"Hi sis." Calvin replied

"Calvin Karlson, your sister tells me that you had a hand in the downfall of Gene Corp." The Bewilderbeast said to Calvin

"Well I can't take all the credit for it, it was a family and multi-national effort." Calvin replied

"I helped too." Emily said, "We almost got killed as well and that was he decided to propose, just before we almost had our heads taken off by a Blackwater trooper in a exosuit, didn't stop me from saying yes though." Emily said to the Bewilderbeast

"You never told me that you helped bring down Gene Corp!" Valka said to Calvin

"The only thing we did was capture its leader as he tried to escape, but unfortunately…we did lose somebody in the process." Calvin replied

"Sergeant Eddie?" The Bewilderbeast asked Calvin

Calvin nodded

"If it wasn't for him our heads would probably be mounted on somebody's trophy wall right now." Calvin said, "Speaking of which, where's my squad?"

"They're with your other human companions." The Bewilderbeast said to Calvin,

"Which brings up the question…what about my daughter?" Henderson asked the Bewilderbeast, "Last time I saw her she was with her and Cloudjumper when they landed."

"I left with her Cloudjumper, don't worry though he's perfectly qualified." Valka said to Henderson

"You left my daughter with your dragon?!" Henderson asked her

"Mr. Henderson I can ensure that there is no need to worry, Cloudjumper has been taking good care of your daughter, who has become quite fond of him and the other dragons." The Bewilderbeast replied, "Plus you're unable to take care of her in your current state."

"He's right you know." Sheva said to Henderson

"I know he is…" Henderson replied telepathically

"And to answer your question Doctor Ward, the injuries inflicted onto the dragons we have rescued from the dragon trappers vary, some are just scars while others have lost limbs." The Bewilderbeast replied

"I'm going have to see them for myself before I give any advice." Ward said to the Bewilderbeast

"You won't have to look far doctor, just look at the dragons behind you and you'll see some of them." The Bewilderbeast said to Ward who looked back at the dragons before them and saw that some of had torn wings, missing limbs, or various degrees of injuries

"You weren't kidding…some of those are the worst injuries I've ever seen on a living dragon, I almost can't believe some of them are even still alive!" Ward replied, "But I'll do what I can though, but in order to give more _advanced_ treatments I'm going to need help from very well-trained people, such as those I used to work with."

The Bewilderbeast nodded

"Who are you?" Valka asked Ward

"This is Doctor Kelly Ward, she's an American who has dedicated the past few years of her life to taking care of dragons, both post-human and natural born." The Bewilderbeast said to Valka

"I'm also the one who developed the surgery that saved Calvin's wings although I wasn't there to carry it out myself." Ward added

"That's what Calvin said." Valka replied, "He also said you fixed a lot of his other injuries that he acquired over the years before the war."

"Yeah most them of inflicted onto him by a certain female Deadly Nadder who liked to play rough." Ward said as she looked at Emily

"Hey don't be smack talking my fiancé!" Calvin shouted to Ward

"You weren't innocent either Calvin, don't get me started on how many times I had to bandage Vasili's face after some of the all-nighters you and Sheva pulled off." Ward replied

"Vasili?" Valka asked Ward

"He's one of the Gronckles." Ward replied

"Man those were the days!" Sheva said

"Well none of you could compared to the mischief Barnes' and Samantha's kids got into when they were younger." Ward replied, "I remember one time Barnes brought in Leon after he had a run in with a porcupine."

"But yet you enjoyed taking care of them, their parents would even sometimes leave them with you if they couldn't take them with them on their journeys or when they wanted to be alone." The Bewilderbeast said to Ward

"Yeah the job defiantly came with its pluses, like being one of the few people to see and hold a baby Night Fury and live to tell the tale." Ward replied

"Wait wait, you held a baby Night Fury?!" Valka asked her

"Yep I was also there when their mother popped them and they opened their cute little eyes for the first time and took their first steps, it was beautiful." Ward replied, "Only bad part was cleaning up all the blood after it was over since post-humans give live birth rather than laying eggs, which was a real shocker."

Valka looked back at Calvin

"Yeah I forgot to mention that part." Calvin said to Valka

"But I can't take all the credit though, the Viking dragon riders were a big help to us, particularly Hiccup and Toothless because without them Barnes and Samantha would've had no idea on how to raise their kids." Ward said to Valka, "Speaking about Hiccup though you kind of remind me of him, not just because of your fascination for dragons, but your looks as well, are you related to him somehow?"

Valka sighed, but nodded

"I'm his mother." Valka said to Ward

"What?!" Calvin shouted, "Everybody told us and him that you were eaten by dragons!"

"Kidnapped, yes, but eaten? No." Valka replied, "Cloudjumper brought me here years ago when Berk was still at war with the dragons and I chose to stay because I thought they would be better off without me."

"Why's that?" Henderson asked Valka

"I was never really that popular on Berk due to my love of dragons." Valka replied

"Oh, ahead of your time then because Berk is a dragon enthusiast dream home now." Ward said to Valka, "Even your husband has…well had a dragon now, but Drago's Bewilderbeast got a hold of it unfortunately."

"I saw that…out of all the people in world I would never expected Stoick to accept a dragon into his life none of the less ride one himself." Valka replied

"He's rode three dragons over the past few years including a Thunderdrum, but unfortunately Alvin killed it before Stoick killed him." Calvin said to Valka

"Alvin's dead?!" Valka asked Calvin, who nodded

"He was the chieftain of the Outcast Tribe and he led its invasion of Berk with his own army of dragon riders, which were eventually defeated and for the most part, wiped out." Calvin replied, "You'll be really proud of Hiccup too, he runs the dragon academy on Berk where he teaches how to take care and ride dragons along with helping our scientists study them."

"A dragon academy?" Valka asked Calvin, who nodded

"I've seen it myself." Calvin replied, "It's in the old kill ring and just before we left Berk for the invasion of Britain, they finished building a dragon hangar and several dragon feeding stations."

"I almost can't believe what I'm hearing!" Valka said

"But they're telling the truth Valka." The Bewilderbeast replied, "If your son and the dragons of Berk can trust these post-humans then so can we."

Valka nodded as a Deadly Nadder landed behind her

"The other false dragons are approaching from the South!" The Deadly Nadder shouted

"Valka, I know we've known each other for only a few minutes, but you need to let me go out there and talk to them before they…you know." Calvin said to Valka, who nodded

"Let me go with you." Valka replied

**Outside the Dragon Sanctuary **

**Task Force Therian **

Hiccup and the other dragon riders were struggling to stay awake as they and the rest of Task Force Therian approached a massive mountain of ice

"Holy fucking crap look of the size of that place!" Wensky shouted over his translation collar's radio

"That must be the Vigilante's hideout which means Calvin and the others are probably in there as well!" Karlson shouted with his translation collar, "Does anybody see a way to get inside?!"

"I'm seeing what looks like a large crack in the front of the mountain!" Pentrov shouted with his translation collar, "But it also looks like a good place to ambush anybody that tries to come inside!"

Karlson snorted

"What are we going to do about all them? Most of them barely know how to fight!" Reaper shouted to Barnes with his translation collar

Barnes looked around

"We'll set up a camp over there on that island and keep them there, it'll also give us a place we can fall back to if everything goes to shit!" Barnes shouted with his translation collar

"Wait a second! I see something coming out of the mountain…its Calvin and he's okay, but no signs of the others though!" Pentrov shouted with his translation collars

"You guys go set up that camp, I'll go check this out!" Karlson shouted to Barnes and the others with his translation collar

"Hold up Charles I'm going with you!" Tesla shouted as she followed Karlson while Reaper and Catherine followed close behind before landing on the beach in front of the ice mountain as Calvin approached them

"Calvin!" Karlson shouted as he and Tesla crawled quickly over to Calvin and both nuzzled him affectionately as Valka walked out of the Ice Mountain

"Hi mom…hi dad." Calvin said to them as both noticed Valka behind him

"You!" Karlson roared at Valka, "YOU HAVE A LOT OF GUTS TAKING OUR KIDS!"

"Dad! Wait!" Calvin shouted to his father as got between him and Valka as Karlson ignited his fire jacket

"What the hell Calvin?!" Karlson shouted to Calvin

"Dad that's Valka, she's Hiccup mom!" Calvin shouted to Karlson

"What?!" Karlson replied

"Yes, I know sounds it crazy, but its true!" Calvin shouted to Karlson

"Did she tell you this?!" Karlson asked Calvin

"No, Ward connected the dots!" Calvin replied as Barnes, Samantha, Wensky, Katie, and the dragon riders landed behind Karlson, Tesla, Reaper, and Catherine

"What's going on?!" Barnes asked Reaper

"Calvin is saying that the Vigilante is Hiccup's mom!" Reaper replied

"What?!" Barnes asked Reaper

"Why are you helping her Calvin?!" Karlson asked Calvin, "Didn't she kidnap you!"

"Yes and I'm helping her because I don't want you and the others getting hurt in a pointless fight with her dragons!" Calvin replied, "So please! Calm down!"

Karlson looked at Calvin and saw that he seriously meant what he was saying and had no intention of standing down along with the fact that he hadn't sustained any major injuries since the last time he saw him

"Okay…" Karlson said quietly as the flames of his fire jacket died down as Valka cautiously approached him and Calvin as the latter lovingly nuzzled the side of his father's snout causing Karlson to smile

"You must be Calvin's father I presume?" Valka asked Karlson, who nodded

"I am, proud father at that…" Karlson replied as Calvin turned around and sat next to him while Valka took off her

"I'm sorry about having to kidnap your children, but I wanted to know more about you before I did anything." Valka said to Karlson as Barnes approached her

"One hell of way to do it." Barnes replied with his translation collar, "And not a good way to make a lot of friends either."

"You must General Barnes, Calvin spoke a lot about you and highly." Valka said to Barnes, who looked at Calvin

"Tried to make you look good." Calvin said to Barnes telepathically

Barnes smiled

"Where's my daughter?" Wensky asked Valka

"She's with Sheva and Ward inside the sanctuary with Valka's Bewilderbeast." Calvin replied

"You have one of those big-ass dragons too?!" Karlson asked Valka, who nodded

"Don't let the Bewilderbeast that Drago has enslaved blind your judgment on the king of my sanctuary, unlike Drago's mine is benevolent and kind unless he is threatened." Valka replied

Karlson nodded as Valka looked over at Barnes

"General Barnes, if you wish, you and your men can take shelter in my sanctuary as long as you need too." Valka said to Barnes

"Thank you, we greatly appreciate it." Barnes replied with his translation collar, "You also do know that your son and husband are with us?"

Valka nodded

"I think it's time I ended my isolation." Valka said to Barnes, who nodded as he got onto his translation collar's radio

"Okay guys, it's all clear! Meet up with us on the beach in front of the mountain!" He shouted into the radio before looking at Valka, "Hiccup, get your dad, there's somebody here you need to meet!"

"Calvin why don't show us around?" Karlson asked Calvin, who nodded

"Right this way!" Calvin replied, "But I suggest you take off your armor and translation collar first though, it might scare the locals."

Karlson and Tesla nodded before they ejected their armor and followed Calvin into the Dragon Sanctuary while Reaper approached Valka and stood up

"You must be Reaper I'm guessing?" Valka asked Reaper, who nodded as Catherine stood next to him

"This is Catherine, my wife." Reaper replied

"Nice to meet you." Valka said as she shook Catherine's right claw, "Calvin mentioned you two, but he was too afraid to go into detail."

"Well…we do have sort of a reputation in our world." Reaper said to Valka, "But trust me as long as you don't any to threaten us or the others, you have nothing to worry about from us."

Valka nodded

Meanwhile inside the sanctuary, Calvin led his parents to the Emily, Sheva, Ward, Henderson, and the others as the Bewilderbeast stood over them

"Mom, dad, this is Valka's Bewilderbeast." Calvin said to his parents before saying to them telepathically, "Bow to it, its sign of respect!"

Karlson and Tesla nodded before they bowed to the Bewilderbeast with Calvin while the Bewilderbeast nodded back in respect

"Mr and Mrs. Karlson, it's an honor to finally meet you in person." The Bewilderbeast said to Karlson and Tesla, "Your son's and daughter's memories of you precede you."

"I forgot to mention this, but he can read our minds." Calvin replied

"Thanks for the heads up…" Tesla said to Calvin as Emily ran to Calvin and nuzzled him while Sheva stayed with Henderson

"What happened to you?" Karlson asked Henderson

"Valka paralyzed me with speed stinger venom while she was kidnapping us." Henderson replied

"Yeah we ran into a few of those things while were on Iceland, nasty little fucks those things are." Karlson said to him, "Where's your daughter and her grandmother?"

"They're with the others although I don't know where that is though." Henderson replied

"On the other side of the sanctuary." The Bewilderbeast said, "But I suggest you wait until Valka returns because Cloudjumper won't trust you without her."

Meanwhile outside the Sanctuary, Valka was caught completely by surprise when shew saw four post-human Monstrous Nightmares carrying a boxcar from a Blackwater train using large chains before they carefully lowered the boxcar onto the beach and dropped the chains as Isotxian Soldiers ran to open its doors while the post-human dragons who had been freed by Task Force Therian from the Blackwater train anxiously gathered in front of it

"What's with the boxcar?" Valka asked Barnes

"You'll see soon enough." Barnes replied as the Isotxian Soldiers pulled open the doors revealing Stoick who was holding a baby post-human Rumblehorn while other baby post-human dragons jumped out of the boxcar at this feet and ran to their waiting parents

"Oh my gods…" Valka said as she held her hands over her mouth as she watched three baby post-human Deadly Nadders be reunited with their mother, who cried happily

"Moments like that is what makes this job worth it." Barnes said to Valka before he shouted, "Hurry up and get these people inside the mountain!"

"I think this one needs a doctor!" Stoick shouted as he handled the post-human Rumblehorn he was carrying to an Isotxian Medic, who struggled to hold the infant post-human that was the size of a baby yak before another Isotxian Soldier ran to help her while Stoick jumped out of the boxcar and looked around while Valka placed her mask on to hide her face

"Scared?" Barnes asked Valka telepathically

"I haven't seen him in twenty years general." Valka replied

"What should we do with the boxcar?!" Fergus shouted to Barnes

"We'll take it offshore somewhere and drop it in the water!" Barnes replied with his translation collar, "But first get all these people inside the mountain!"

Fergus nodded

"Okay lads! You heard the dragon, let's get these people into the mountain!" Fergus shouted to the other Isotxians

"You don't mind being called a dragon?" Valka asked Barnes, who nodded

"We've gotten used to it." Barnes replied as Hiccup and Toothless landed in front of him and Valka, making her take a few steps back

"We did what you said and did a full sweep around the area!" Hiccup said to Barnes as he dismounted from Toothless and took off his helmet which was Valka recognized him from the scar on his chin

"Did you see anything?" Barnes asked Hiccup with his translation collar

Hiccup shook his head

"There's a Roman warship frozen in ice not that too far from here, but nothing serious." Hiccup said to Barnes, "Who did you want me to meet?"

"Hiccup?" Valka asked Hiccup

"Do I know you?" Hiccup asked Valka

"I'm going to leave you two to yourselves." Barnes said to Hiccup and Valka before he left to help dispose of the boxcar as Valka took off her mask

"It was so long ago, you were just a baby when I last saw you…but a mother never forgets." Valka said to Hiccup, whose jaw dropped while Toothless turned his head

"I…thought...thought...you…dead-" Hiccup said to Valka, before she stopped him

"Dead?! No, I was what you could call kidnapped by what is now my dragon, the same one who gave you that scar when you were just a babe." Valka replied

Hiccup felt the scar on his chin while Stoick was helping Gobber unload the last of the injured or sick baby post-human dragons from the boxcar before Gobber looked up

"Uhhh Stoick you might want to see who Hiccup is talking too…" Gobber said to Stoick, who sighed before he turned around and saw Valka and Hiccup causing him to almost drop the baby post-human Zippleback he was holding before Fergus caught it

"Easy there! You almost dropped this little bugger!" Fergus said as he cradled the baby post-human Zippleback in his arms as Stoick slowly made his way to Hiccup and Valka, the latter of which didn't notice him until he spoke

"Val? Is that you?" Stoick said to Valka, who completely froze at the sound of Stoick's voice

"Hello Stoick…" Valka replied as Stoick stared at her, "I'm guessing your mad and upset that I never came back to Berk…so go ahead…tear into me…or…"

Stoick placed his hand on the side of Valka's voice

"You're just as beautiful as the day you left us." Stoick said to Valka before he hugged her and started crying while the other Vikings and the Isotxians stopped what they were doing and watched them including Reaper and Catherine

"Déjà vu." Catherine said to Reaper, who nodded

"Okay lads, let's get back to work and get all these people into the mountain!" Fergus shouted

**Ambush Site **

**0823 Hours **

Drago and Walker were surveying the remains of the armored train that Task Force Therian had ambushed while Blackwater Engineers worked to clear the tracks

"I never imagined that they would be this brave." Drago said to Walker, who nodded

"We're not far that from one of our major bases either." Walker replied as the Leader of a Blackwater Hunter-Killer Team approached him and Drago

"Sir we located what we think was Task Force Therian's hideout, but it's completely deserted." The Hunter-Killer Team Leader said to Walker and Drago

"I expected as much, it would've been foolish for them to have stayed in this valley after pulling this off." Walker replied, "Any idea where they possibly may have went?"

"Negative, but the Vigilante and some of her dragons were spotted in the vicinity of the hideout carrying other dragons and humans away from it." The Hunter-Killer Team Leader said to Walker, "If those dragons and human were some of Therian's guys, chances are they probably went after her, so if we find the Vigilante, we'll likely find Task Force Therian."

"And kill two of our problems with one stone, good work Sergeant." Walker said to the Hunter-Killer Team Leader

"That Vigilante has long been a thorn in the side of dragon trappers, sabotaging and destroying their traps and occasionally even attacking their encampments and stealing their dragons." Drago said to Walker, who nodded

"Same here Drago, that crazy ass bitch has hampered our operations across this area for years now with her attacks!" Walker said to Drago, "But good news is that we think we're close to locating her hideout, so we can return the favor and focus our attention on the real problems to our south."

"Do you have a general idea on where you think her hideout is?" Drago asked Walker

"Somewhere up north in the uninhabited areas on the Atlantic Coast." Walker replied

"Then we'll focus our efforts there." Drago said to Walker, "Is there any way I can get my fleet past the Coalition naval blockade of the Baltic Straits?"

"Not without losing at least half of it." Walker replied, "At one point we and the Romans did try to build a canal to connect the Gulf of Bothnia to the White Sea, but it started bleeding money and resources, so Yate stopped it about halfway through completion and left what we had finished along with most of the heavy equipment we were using to build to decay and rust."

"Hmmm interesting, can we possibly resume construction of this canal?" Drago asked Walker

"It's possible, but it's going to take a lot of manpower and material to complete and not to mention we'll have to make repairs to the locks that have already been completed and such." Walker replied

"Don't bore me with the details Walker, if we're going to win this I need to be able to get my fleet back into the Atlantic." Drago said to Walker, who nodded as Drago continued, "How long will construction take?"

"A few months at the least and that's not including any possible delays." Walker replied


End file.
